UA officials said they are monitoring the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 and how it may affect the school by the time the spring semester starts in January.

The University of Arizona is concerned about the emergence of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.

“We’re all on alert,” UA President Robert Robbins said at a virtual news conference Monday morning. “It is still early, and scientists around the world are working to study and better understand this new variant. As they do this work, we will monitor public health conditions and adapt as needed.”

Late last week, the World Health Organization classified omicron as a “variant of concern.” Although the variant has not yet been detected in the United States, it has been detected in numerous other countries including, South Africa, Germany and the United Kingdom.

For the WHO to classify omicron as a variant of concern it must meet at least one of the following criteria:

Increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology

Increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation

Decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines or therapeutics

According to a brief from the WHO, “the likelihood of potential further spread of omicron at the global level is high,” but there are still “considerable uncertainties.”

The UA is taking both of those revelations into account as it plans for next semester, which starts in mid-January. Students and staffers returned Monday from Thanksgiving break and have about three weeks of the fall semester left before they go on an extended break.

“I think it’s important to recognize that new information on this variant will emerge rapidly and may, at times, be confusing to those of us who are not directly involved in the research,” Robbins said. “I encourage everyone to stay attuned to the guidance of public health officials and continue the public health practices we’ve been encouraging since this pandemic began: Cover your face in public, keep socially distant, wash your hands and, above all, get vaccinated.”

It’s been roughly six weeks since the UA joined Arizona’s two other major universities in requiring all employees to get vaccinated by early next year in compliance with federal orders. When the mandate was first announced a little over half of all UA employees had shown the university proof of their vaccination status.

As of Monday, 80% of employees, which includes student-workers, had uploaded their vaccine cards to the university’s secure system.

While Robbins pleaded with unvaccinated people to get the shot as soon as possible, he also emphasized the importance of regular COVID-19 testing.

“We need to know the level of COVID-19 in our community, and the only way we can do that is testing,” he said.

Although the omicron variant hasn’t officially made it to the U.S. yet, the nation — and Arizona especially — is still battling COVID-19. Over the past month, cases in Arizona have continued to rise. As of Monday, Arizona counted an average of 45 new cases per day — Pima County counted 47 — per 100,000 people. That’s almost double the national average of 25 new cases per 100,000 people.

“We were all hoping to be able to declare that we had won this war and move on, but we’re not there yet,” said Dr. Richard Carmona, who has been advising the UA and the state’s COVID-19 response. “We’re still in the midst of a pandemic and because of the variants we’re well not out of this yet.”

January brings uncertainty

It’s not clear what the COVID-19 pandemic — and the spread of the omicron variant — will look like in Tucson in January when tens of thousands of students and employees return to campus from the holiday break.

For that reason, university officials will consult with local public health experts about transmissibility levels and hospital loads to develop policies to best can combat any changes to the status of the pandemic that may arise by January.

This was the first semester the UA offered majority in-person learning since the pandemic began in March 2020. Robbins said the university will continue to monitor the pandemic to decide if moving more classes online is appropriate, but “As of right now, the plans are to come back in January in the same format that we’re finishing strong with this semester.”

Regardless of what happens, Robbins strongly encouraged everyone to test regularly when they return to campus, though he said the UA will not mandate it.

“By the time we get back in January, there’s a lot that’s going to change,” Robbins said. “Until then, I would encourage everyone to wash your hands frequently, cover your face, stay as far away from people as possible, vax up, bear down and mask up.”


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Kathryn Palmer covers higher education for the Arizona Daily Star. Contact her via e-mail at kpalmer@tucson.com or her new phone number, (520) 496-9010.