WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO issued the following announcement on August 5.
Over the next month, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin college students will return to campus as the state continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be masks, social distancing and even smartphone apps aimed at limiting new outbreaks.
But while there are students eager to regain some form of in-person learning, a number of instructors and staff are concerned about their safety.
In March, a cascade of public and private colleges in the state moved classes online and told students to stay home, if possible, due to a small but growing number of positive COVID-19 test results. The transition happened within a matter of weeks, and the effects shook higher education in a way never seen before.
Public and private universities issued tens of millions of dollars worth in housing and dining refunds to students who were no longer on campus. Sporting events and summer camps were canceled. For the University of Wisconsin System alone, there was an estimated $212 million in lost revenues.
There were less than 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin when campuses first began to shut down in the spring. As of Tuesday, there have been 56,056 cases, with a weekly average of 840 new cases per day, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Given the high levels of COVID-19 activity, some aspects of college life remain on hiatus. On July 27, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced the cancellation of football, women's soccer, women's volleyball and all cross-country seasons due to the growing number of COVID-19 positives.
Still, campuses like the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire are pushing ahead to reopen this fall, with administrators stressing that they’re doing everything they can to keep students and employees from contracting COVID-19. That includes holding hybrid classes, with half of the enrolled students attending in-person some days and the other half following along online.
UW-Eau Claire, like other universities, announced mandatory face masks prior to Gov. Tony Evers' statewide mask mandate. The campus will also require students to both record their daily temperature using a smartphone app developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, and to seek testing if they develop symptoms, though Chancellor Jim Schmidt says the campus is "having problems getting supplies" for new testing equipment.
Original source here.
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