Everyone has experienced COVID-19, and now two years later we are trying to get back to life as ‘normal.’
As of right now COVID-19 numbers are decreasing; however, there are still surges that come up every now and again.
Dixie State University
According to Judy Scott, associate professor of nursing, many people are frightened to return back to normal after being in a state of emergency for two years.
Scott said, “Whether or not COVID is decreasing people are scared.”
Mental health issues are coming to the forefront. Many mental health cases have been diagnosed since the start of COVID-19. It is not that mental health was not as prevalent before, it is because people have been isolated for so long they are scared to go back into public.
In the past month COVID-19 cases have decreased significantly. As of April 4, DSU is a COVID-19 free campus. There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 on DSU campus.
DSU’s COVID-19 task force
DSU has a COVID-19 task force to make sure there was consistent messaging through all of the proper administration. The task force made decisions on whether classes should be in-person, what to do about housing, and made overall decisions about how to run the university during a pandemic. The task force is still currently up and running, but it is likely that they will not be after this semester.
Susan Ertel, associate professor of English, said: “You can still attend classes on zoom, you and your professor can work out that agreement if you test positive for COVID-19. It is just a case by case basis so there is not a campus-wide policy about it.”
According to Utah state law, 85% of all classes have to be held in person as of the 2021 legislative session. This bill limits the amount of online or remote learning that can happen via Zoom.
The reason the bill was heading to the legislature was because they felt the money the schools and universities ask for yearly was going to waste due to online enrollment.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, yearly there are universities that ask for millions and hundreds of millions of dollars for buildings. If the desire of the universities is to continue to hold only online classes, then why is the legislature spending so much on buildings that are just going to waste.
The bill provides an exception for any university that had a decline in enrollment between September 2019 and August 2021.
Utah
The total number of cases as of April 7 is 928,621. There have been 34,129 hospitalizations and 4,730 deaths.
In Utah masks are a personal choice. Many have chosen to be vaccinated, which decreases the chances of getting COVID-19, but many are still wary of leaving the house without a mask.
According to Utah’s COVID-19 website, in Washington county, there have been 63,452 cases of COVID-19 as of April 7. Of those cases, 3,066 of them have been hospitalized, and 648 people have died from COVID-19.
People do have a choice to wear a mask in public; however, they do not have the choice when it comes to public transportation. This has caused an outrage in many as Utah filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
Utah has joined 20 other states in asking federal courts to permanently end the federal transportation mask mandate. The states all claim the policy exceeds the Center for Disease Control’s authority and interferes with state laws banning forced masking.
The following states have joined the complaint: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Although COVID-19 cased are rapidly decreasing across Utah and DSU campus, there are still many precautions people can take to feel safe.
