-36-hundred cases near the end of the first semester. And as thousands of
Utah's college students
-return to class this week...
Universities say they're doing
everything they can to
-control the spread. As
KSL Investigator Brittany Glas
reports... it's turning out to
be a huge undertaking.
52 1:23 1:53 2:17 2:48 2:57
3:10
3:10
aircheck 9/6/20 10pm ASHLEY MOSER: "TWO DAYS AGO BYU HAD 40 CASES OF COVID. THAT HAS
NOW BEEN MOVED UP TO 79."
And, bet you can't forget
this... nats of party
Coronavirus outbreaks at
colleges and universities here
in Utah, and across the
country... dominated the
headlines in early fall.
And those outbreaks - affected
the surrounding communities.
A new C-D-C study found --
counties with large
universities experienced a 56%
increase in COVID-19 when the
campuses opened with in-person
instruction. State leaders
don't want that to happen
again. GOV. COX 56.19 "THAT'S
WHERE THE FIRST SURGE REALLY
STARTED, WE KNOW WAS IN THE
UNIVERSITIES. EVERY STUDENT
SHOULD BE TESTED IN THE FIRST
10 DAYS OF COMING BACK TO
CAMPUS." 56.27
CAMPUS." 56.27
BRITTANY GLAS, REPORTING: "THE KSL INVESTIGATORS CONTACTED ALL OF UTAH'S MAJOR
UNIVERSITIES... AND WHAT WE
LEARNED, IS THEIR PLAN TO TEST
AND RE-TEST EVERY STUDENT FOR
COVID IS RIGOROUS... BUT, IS
IT EVEN POSSIBLE?" UVU 00000
8.52 "WE FEEL PRETTY GOOD WITH
OUR PLAN BUT WE'RE GOING TO BE
TESTED, WE'RE GOING TO FIND
OUT." 8.56 Testing is
already underway at several
universities for áevery
student who has at least one
face-to-face class. UVU 00006
NATS 24.21 "HAVE YOU BEEN
TESTED HERE BEFORE? NEVER. DO
YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT
THE TEST? NOPE." 24.25 At
UVU - that's as many as
19-thousand students. UVU
00007 NICK 25.30 "IT WAS NOT
AS BAD AS I'VE HEARD. IT
WASN'T UNCOMFORTABLE. IT WAS
SUPER QUICK." 25.35 It's a
huge undertaking - but it's
also just the beginning.
Once every returning student
is tested... they have
additional testing protocols
going forward.
Universities will offer
testing to anyone who has
symptoms... But, they also
plan to do random,
asymptomatic testing -
potentially hundreds of
students per week. On top
of that... they'll do
"targeted testing" when cases
pop up, or for groups who meet
in close quarters. UVU 00000
5.00 "IT REALLY IS A SURGICAL
WAY OF GOING IN AND LOOKING TO
SEE IF THERE'S DISEASE
PREVALENCE." 5.06 For the
University of Utah -- which
has on-campus housing...
Students living there will be
tested once a week... and it's
mandatory. Outside of
that, ALL students, faculty
and staff can be tested on a
weekly basis if they want to.
And that goes for most
other universities, as well.
USHE COMMISSIONER ZOOM 2.11
"WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS
IDENTIFY THE VIRUS EARLY AND
THEN TO SEPARATE THOSE
STUDENTS AND GET THEM ISOLATED
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN
CONTROL THE SPREAD." 2.19
All that testing means one
thing... thousands and
thousands of test kits per
week. The big unknown...
is it sustainable? USHE
COMMISSIONER Zoom 5.46 "WHAT
WILL THOSE RESOURCES BE? WHERE
WILL THEY COME FROM AND
ULTIMATELY, WHO WILL PICK UP
THE TAB?" 5.51 Those are
still some of the unanswered
questions education leaders
have, but they're hoping the
state and federal government
will come through on their
promises. BYU ZOOM 4.57 "IT
DOES NEED IMPROVEMENT BUT IT'S
THE BEST THAT WE HAVE RIGHT
NOW AND IT'S A WORK IN
PROGRESS." 5.02 Most
students we spoke with were
supportive of the increased
testing... USU ZOOM 7.42 "I
DON'T THINK NEARLY AS MANY
PEOPLE WOULD GET TESTED IF IT
WASN'T MANDATORY, AND
SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST NEED
THAT LITTLE EXTRA THE RIGHT
THING TO PROTECT EVERYONE
AROUND THEM." 7.52 SLCC ZOOM
4.32 "I THINK THEY SHOULD TRY
AND OPEN UP MORE TESTING SITES
AT THE OTHER CAMPUSES,
ESPECIALLY SINCE SLCC HAS
SEVERAL." 4.37 The one
thing both students and
schools seem to understand
though is this... It's
going to take a lot of effort
on everyone's part, to keep
kids coming to class. USHE
COMMISSIONER ZOOM 13.40 "IF WE
DON'T CONTROL THIS, WE WILL BE
100% ONLINE. AND WE WILL BE
SENDING STUDENTS BACK HOME.
AND THE STUDENTS DON'T WANT
THAT AND NEITHER DO WE." 13.50
College faculty and staff is another issue... Most universities are including
them in their on-campus COVID
testing. However, we
learned Dixie State is
referring staff off-campus,
making it a bit more
complicated for them.
Brittany, looking ahead:
will there be vaccine
requirements at Utah colleges?
The commissioner of Higher Education said everything is
on the table for fall semester
20-21... including mandatory
vaccinations. However...
those decisions have not yet
been made.
Alright. Thanks, Brittany.