Student leaders at the University of Texas at Austin are petitioning school authorities to implement more COVID-19 safety measures in the face of the omicron variant.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, members of UT Student Government, UT Senate and various other student organizations shared a petition Feb. 8 saying that UT “continues to risk the safety and well-being of students, faculty and staff by resuming in-person classes and campus operations.” Some of the requests include mask dispensers around campus and providing students with at-home COVID-19 tests.
“Students have been presented with various obstacles from the new variant, from managing their health to facing heightened levels of financial and emotional insecurities; the decision to resume campus operations is reckless at best and life-threatening at worst,” the petition states, according to Austin American-Statesman. “While the omicron variant is often perceived as a ‘mild’ threat for everyone, that is simply untrue.”
The university decided to resume regular classes and operations on campus Jan. 31 after a stunted start to the semester.
“The university’s decision to resume in-person learning was made with careful deliberation and input from our public health leaders and COVID-19 researchers — by members of our community for members of our community,” the statement read. “We believe we can return safely, as we have in past semesters, and that the in-person academic and social experience will deliver the best educational outcomes while nurturing your well-being.”
University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell issued a statement outlining the various guidelines the school would be following as the school returns to in-person classes.
“Since we announced our changes to the start of the spring semester, our COVID-19 executive committee has been closely monitoring conditions on campus and in the surrounding area to determine when we would be able to return safely to our full in-person activities and operations,” Hartzell said.
UT reports that COVID-19 rates have dropped during the previous month with asymptomatic positivity rates under 2.5%.
The previous rate in January was 10%.
