Coronavirus in Schools and Colleges: What You Need to Know to Stay Healthy
The Princeton Review
You’ve probably been hearing a LOT about coronavirus lately.
Let’s talk about what it is, and what it isn’t—and what YOU can do to help keep
yourself and your school healthy, and your sanity intact.
Here’s what you need to know.
A coronavirus is a type of virus that causes respiratory tract infections.
The big coronavirus in the news lately is COVID-19, which is short for Coronavirus Disease
19, a newly discovered respiratory illness that can spread from person to person.
Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, tiredness, cough, achiness, nasal congestion,
and sore throat.
In other words, folks, this often looks and sounds a whole lot like the flu.
If you get COVID-19, you may experience all, some, or potentially none of these symptoms.
In fact, some people get infected and feel basically fine.
But about 1 in 6 infected people do become seriously ill.
The virus seems to have the greatest effect on older people, and those with underlying
medical conditions.
It seems to be less common, and less severe, among children.
It spreads through small droplets that come from the nose or mouth, like when you sneeze.
It can also spread when people touch surfaces that are contaminated with droplets from an
infected person.
But—there are things you can do to reduce your chances of contracting it and to prevent
the spread in your school and community.
For starters:
Wash your hands!
And wash them well.
For at least 20 seconds.
If you can’t wash with soap and water, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
The World Health Organization advises that you not wear a mask if you’re healthy, unless
you’re taking care of someone who may have COVID-19, or if you have it yourself.
And remember that masks are only effective in combination with frequent hand-cleaning.
If someone is coughing or sneezing, stay at least 3 feet away.
Again, this will help keep you healthy even if the person just has a cold.
If you’re coughing or sneezing—stay at least 3 feet away from others.
And cough or sneeze into a tissue.
Then throw the tissue away.
Then wash your hands.
You may also be advised to wear a face mask.
Try not to cough or sneeze into your elbow, because your elbow goes wherever you do.
And don’t touch your face.
It’s so hard, I know.
A 2015 study documented an average of 23 face touches in an hour.
Gross!
Now, what does this all mean for schools and students?
For starters, a lot of schools—both colleges and K–12 institutions—are stepping up
their cleaning regimens—wiping down objects, desks, doorknobs, and railings with disinfectant.
They’re also encouraging students to wash their hands.
And many are extending the length of time that students with illnesses must stay home.
This is all great!
Prevention is better than a cure.
If you or your kids have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19,
isolate yourselves and call your physician for further advice.
Do all you can to contain the virus so it doesn’t spread further.
Still, even with hand sanitizers sold out at stores across the country, new cases of
the virus are being reported daily in a growing number of locations.
We advise you to prepare for school changes and closures in your community—to the greatest
extent that you can.
Here’s how:
If you’re at college, follow your school’s guidelines.
And if you are feeling sick—first, isolate yourself, and then call health services for
guidance on what to do next—so you can protect others as you get care.
And take comfort knowing that colleges and universities across the nation are working
hard to protect their students, faculty, and staff.
The American College Health Association, which consists of campus health programs at more
than 1,100 institutions, has created a task force for addressing COVID-19.
In addition, dining services and campus housing teams at schools all across the country are
devising plans to feed and house students in the event that COVID-19 spreads to their
campuses.
In the past, with things like norovirus, schools moved toward serving pre-packaged foods to
avoid spreading illness through things like shared utensils at a salad bar.
But this epidemic isn’t like what we’ve seen before—so we talked to folks at colleges
who are working to keep their campus communities safe, healthy, housed, and fed.
One of the people we reached out to is Ken Toong, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services
at UMass Amherst—UMass has been the #1-ranked school on our Best Campus Food list for 4
years running.
He let us know that UMass Dining has developed a contingency plan to stock their warehouse
with necessary supplies, and to work with vendors to simplify their menu items.
They have not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19 on campus, but they are prepped and ready—as
are thousands of colleges all across the country.
Scary as this is, it’s been heartening for us to talk to folks at schools and really
appreciate how dedicated, and how prepared, they are.
As always, we’re following school changes closely and will continue to report out to
you what you can expect to start seeing.
In addition to making plans on campus, lots of colleges are also suspending study abroad
programs to affected countries, and “recalling” students and faculty who are abroad.
For international students from affected areas—especially if you’re planning to travel—check with
your college’s International Student Services office to find out what your options are.
Those teams are working hard to keep students healthy.
For K–12 students, the issue is less about travel and shared living spaces, and more
about potential school closures—which will affect students and parents alike.
As of this taping, 22 countries on 3 continents have had school closures.
Schools have closed in China, Italy, South Korea, India, Iran, Japan, France, Pakistan,
and elsewhere.
In the United States, some schools have closed in both Washington State and New York—and
Los Angeles, the second largest public school district in the country, seems poised to close
schools as well.
It’s tough to be a parent under the best of circumstances.
If your elementary kids’ schools close, see if you can set up a temporary homeschooling
co-op with other parents where you switch off taking care of a group of kids—ideally,
doing some educational activities with them so that they don’t experience the notorious
summer slide this spring.
If your kids are teenagers, encourage them to form study groups, and maybe even start
a group project together.
And of course, remind them to practice frequent handwashing!
For students: If you’re feeling cooped up, now’s the time to let your imagination fly.
Write a story, develop a new boardgame, create your own videogame, do an art project—use
your brain!
And keep washing your hands too!
And for everyone: Keep in mind that there are students who qualify for free and reduced
lunch, who will be affected by school closures.
Reach out to your school district and find out if there’s a plan in place to get meals
to folks who need them.
If there isn’t a plan, band together with your neighbors and create one.
There’s not a lot of good that can come out of the spread of an illness.
But if there are any silver linings, they’re these:
Number one: We’ll all be conscientious hand-washers from now on.
Right?
Number two: When we get out of our routines, we’ll use the opportunity to grow our brains
and stretch our imaginations.
And number three: We’ll make a commitment to support each other as a community.
As we collectively work to contain this virus, we’ll be monitoring how the illness, and
containment measures, affect everyone—and especially students, parents, and educators.
Subscribe to our channel for updates as we track this and other important topics for
you.
In the meantime, please do what you can to keep yourself and your communities healthy.
We wish you all the best.