Daytona State administration and faculty have always paid careful attention to the Center for Disease Control’s policies regarding COVID-19 and continue to do so today.
At the height of the pandemic, when less was known about the virus, DSC had an active COVID-19 response team, but as positive cases lowered and the CDC loosened its policies, the campus now depends on cooperation between staff and students to maintain a virus-free learning environment for everyone involved.
While COVID-19 cases in the US have continued a rise-and-fall trend, the CDC reports deaths from the virus have plateaued for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. The CDC is moving toward what the public should consider a new normalcy. Policies regarding quarantine periods have been altered due to prolonged research, shortening isolation time for those showing symptoms or testing positive to five days, in most cases. Along with the changes to quarantine policy involving the individual, policies regarding close contact have change as well.
In the past, the policy would be that an individual who experienced close contact exposure would have to quarantine for a time similar to that of the infected, but now they recommend the individual wear a tight-fitting mask for up to ten days after exposure in lieu of isolation. The CDC defines close contact in regard to COVID-19 as exposure from less than six feet from an infected person, whether laboratory confirmed or clinical diagnosis, for a total of fifteen minutes over the course of a twenty-four-hour period.
While the number of deaths from COVID-19 has plateaued, this doesn’t mean the virus is no longer something to consider serious. “Four to five hundred deaths a day is significant,” Dr. Colin Chesley said regarding the plateauing number of COVID-related deaths in the country that have been recorded over the past four to five months. “That actually makes COVID-19 the fourth or fifth leading cause of death in the United States, if it stays consistent.” Dr. Chesley is the Associate Vice President of the College of Health and Public services at Daytona State and oversees the operations of many of the health-related schools on campus.
Dr. Chesley said that serious side effects of the disease are not as widespread as they may have been in the past, due to a number of possible reasons. One of these reasons most likely being the rise in antibodies, either due to exposure or vaccination. According to blood tests conducted by the American Red Cross, out of 1.4 million blood draws they analyzed, about 84% had antibodies for COVID-19.
“It’s too early to tell,” Dr. Chesley continued, “but it’s looking like this is just the new normal.”
Campus administration urges students not to attend classes if they’re showing any symptoms of sickness and to contact their professors and COVIDhealth@Daytonastate.edu as soon as possible.
For national information regarding COVID-19, visit CDC.gov and for information about COVID-19 on campus, visit the COVID-19 page on the college’s website.
Tim Blalock
Editor-in-chief