UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

Opinion|Why Utah should be declared in a state of emergency

Utah COVID-19 cases are at an all time high. The intensive care units are full. The schools are going remote. It’s time to declare Utah in a state of emergency.

A state of emergency can be declared upon the state of Utah. But, only if Governor Cox finds a disaster has occurred, if a threat is amongst any area of the state, or if the damage is severe enough that response and recovery assistance is required from state or government officials.

This is exactly what is happening in Utah right now. However, Utah state officials have still not declared a state of emergency.

According to The New York Times, in Dec. 2020, the daily average for positive COVID-19 cases in Utah was 2,306. As of Jan. 2022, the daily average for positive COVID-19 cases is 10,808. The COVID-19 case numbers have skyrocketed and instead of a mask mandate to help cases die down, Utah did the exact opposite.

On Jan. 21, during the 2022 legislative session, the bill S.J.R. 3 was passed. This bill terminated the 30-day mask mandate in Salt Lake County as well as any mask mandate anywhere in Utah. In addition, this signed bill terminates Utah schools from requiring a face covering, and it ties the hands of health officials who are doing everything they can to keep Utahns safe from COVID-19 without breaking any state laws.

I believe since Utah got rid of any mask enforcement the only solution is to call a statewide 5-day quarantine. If schools and universities did this for the first two weeks of school to minimize cases, why would it not be effective for the whole state?

The Utah state officials are ignoring the rise in cases and COVID-19 in general. They are more focused on passing bills that in no way help the COVID-19 battle.

COVID-19 testing sites have shut down, testing sites have run out of tests, and the lines to get tested are hours long. The governor told Utahns with COVID-19 symptoms to stay home for five days instead of getting tested because the demand was so high. It is clear that to the Utah state officials, this is not cause for a state of emergency.

At what point will the governor realize Utah is in a state of emergency even if it has not been officially declared. Stop letting your personal beliefs of masks not working affect the entire state of Utah, you don’t know what is best for everyone.

COVID-19 impact on the women’s basketball team

After the chaos COVID-19 wreaked on the Dixie State University women’s basketball team in the 2020-2021 season, the Trailblazers are moving forward with renewed energy.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team only had the opportunity to play a few games, then the season was officially cancelled.

JD Gustin, head coach of DSU women’s basketball team, said the team is recovering after the struggle of the previous season. The team has been able to start fresh.

Gustin said not being able to have a season last year made the team appreciate the opportunity they have this season and how special it is to play college basketball.

Since COVID-19 has not taken a toll on DSU women’s basketball team this season, players are able to continue to better themselves and their overall game play.

Sophomore forward Emily Isaacson, a general studies major from Perry, said, “I love the challenge of being the best I can be and continually bettering myself, and finding things to work on and improve.”

To keep COVID-19 from affecting the season negatively, the team is taking all precautions and is following specific guidelines given by the NCAA Division 1 organization.

Main guidelines

For unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, close contact with COVID-19 requires, “Quarantine at home for five days. After that, continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others for five additional days.”

For fully vaccinated, close contact with COVID-19 requires, “No quarantine. Wear a well-fitting mask socially when not actively training/competing for 10 days. Test on day five, if possible, and test symptomatic individuals.”

For all, a positive COVID-19 test requires, “Isolate for five days. If no symptoms or symptoms are resolving after five days, isolation may end. Continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others for five additional days. If there is a fever, continue to isolate until fever resolves.”

Guard Shanaijah Davison, a senior communication studies major from Woodland, California, said the virus has affected her basketball season in a positive way.

Davison said unlike many others, COVID-19 has had a great impact on her college basketball experience, which influenced her to leave the previous university she attended, Long Beach State University.

When COVID-19 hit, Davison had the time to go home and reflect on how she wanted her college basketball career to continue. DSU provided the game play that fit her style of play best, and as a result she decided to play her last season at DSU.

As a Trailblazer, Davison was eligible to play her first game this season on Jan. 13 against Seattle University. The team won the game against Seattle, and Davison was player of the game with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.

As the Trailblazers have led a COVID-19 free season so far, they will attempt to finish the remainder of the 2021-2022 season strong.

DSU COVID-19 cases doubled in the first two weeks of school

As COVID-19 cases rise in Utah, Dixie State University has revised its COVID-19 guidelines to fit CDC recommendations.

While other universities in Utah have decided to require the COVID-19 vaccine, DSU has chosen to not require the vaccine. However, DSU has chosen to be compliant with Utah’s COVID-19 regulations by minimizing the isolation period from 10 days to five days.

If you are sick and/or test positive for COVID-19, students are recommended to fill out the COVID-19 self-report form and quarantine for five days. After a five day quarantine students are then expected to mask up and social distance for an additional five days. DSU will then contact trace others you may have exposed to COVID-19 to prevent an outbreak from occurring on campus.

Susan Ertel, faculty senate president and associate professor of English, said DSU expects an omicron outbreak on campus within the end of this week and early next week. She said we saw these kinds of spikes toward the beginning of last semester.

As of Jan. 14 DSU recorded 28 positive COVID-19 cases during the first week of school. These numbers have since doubled and DSU is now looking at 77 positive COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 19.

Garyn Gulbranson, director of the Booth Wellness Center, said: “Every time a student, faculty or staff member is reporting a case of COVID-19 we reach out to them personally. We talk about the different testing options. We will give them the run through on the appropriate steps to quarantine and how to notify others [if exposure occurs].”

While DSU does not have any vaccine clinics planned at this time, Gulbranson encourages students, faculty and staff to get fully vaccinated.

Travis Rosenburg, executive director of human resources, said DSU has become stricter on its guidelines for allowing faculty to teach remotely, excluding courses that were designed to be taught remotely.

Rosenburg said the HR department decided that the fear of COVID-19 was not a sufficient enough reason to teach remotely. Rosenburg explained if DSU let a majority of the faculty teach remotely that students’ wouldn’t get the whole college experience.

DSU encourages students, staff and faculty to get fully vaccinated and wear a mask to protect themselves from the Omicron variant.

Rosenburg said he has approved seven employees to work remotely because of health accommodations made unrelated to COVID-19. If a faculty member or multiple students tested positive for COVID-19 the course would shift remotely for a few weeks, however the class could not stay remote any longer than that because of state laws.

Utah state law also requires 75% of classes be taught face-to-face. Problems arise with this when individual classes pivot to remote learning because of an outbreak in the classroom. These classes can remain remote for a few weeks, but eventually need to be shifted back due to state laws.

From the outside in, it may look like DSU is not doing much to protect students, faculty and staff. However, DSU is simply tied at the hands when Utah state laws and legislature prevent DSU from requiring students to get tested or from mandating vaccines and/or masks.

Off-campus testing locations

On-campus testing

Where to get a COVID-19 vaccine