The UA is committed to starting the spring semester Wednesday with in-person classes but will monitor COVID-19 case counts and is prepared to change plans, the school’s president said Monday.
“I move forward with great trepidation, but I do believe it is the right thing to do,” UA President Robert Robbins said about opening with in-person classes. “We’ll watch this very closely.”
The school will monitor case numbers, positivity rates, the number of students isolating in special dorm rooms and how hospitals in the Tucson community are doing with the number of patients before any decisions are made to change from the current plan.
Robbins said although students need the stability of in-person classes, the school must take as many steps possible to mitigate the virus on campus.
The school is requiring everyone on campus to wear surgical-grade masks or better (KN95, N95, KF94 or N99) in most indoor settings because cloth masks are no longer sufficient protection against the highly transmissible omicron variant. The masks will be made available in campus buildings and outside classrooms.
The school has about 150,000 surgical-quality masks available in its stockpile, Robbins said.
A negative COVID-19 test will be required by the UA for any student returning to the dorms this semester.
The school has 300 isolation rooms available to any dorm resident who tests positive for COVID-19. That capacity can be increased to 600 beds with double occupancy, Robbins said.
He said he hopes the community spike in cases, largely due to the omicron variant, begins to subside in a couple of weeks.
“A good mitigation strategy is the best course. … If things change we certainly reserve the right to change modalities to go back to essential classes (in person) or even totally online,” Robbins said. “Right now we are going to stay the course and ride this out.”
The UA is also making testing and vaccinations available to employees and students. The school has take-home tests available at several locations and is also offering in-person testing with appointments required.
Starting Monday, students and employees can make an appointment for a COVID-19 test that will be given on the third level of the Student Union (at the former Cactus Grill). The testing will be available daily this week until 5 p.m. Friday.
Robbins said while COVID-19 tests are difficult to find in the community, the UA has the capacity to administer about 3,000 tests each day to students, faculty and staff. Even that’s not enough, he said.
The school also said it will have a walk-in vaccination site set up from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, at the Cole and Jeannie Davis Sports Center, 640 N. National Championship Drive. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available. No appointment is necessary, and it is open to the public 5 years and older through a partnership with the Pima County Health Department.
