YSU focuses on testing, vaccines for spring semester

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University is focusing spring semester efforts on more COVID-19 testing and vaccines for the campus community.

Julie Gentile, director of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, said YSU is working with Youngstown City Health District to vaccinate students and faculty who qualify in healthcare and K-12 settings.

“That’s kind of our effort now is not just to prevent it but also be proactive,” Gentile said.

YSU President Jim Tressel said the university is focused on more testing and getting those who qualify vaccinated during the winter months. He said once weather gets better and people can go outside more, he hopes there will be less spread of the coronavirus.

“Fingers crossed, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Tressel said.

YSU is following Ohio Department of Health guidelines to vaccinate healthcare workers, students in K-12 teaching programs and older employees who qualify.

As a result, not many students and employees will qualify for Phase 1A and 1B for the coronavirus vaccines, Tressel said.

Some of those who qualify at YSU were vaccinated and others were put on a waiting list.

Tressel said he would be surprised if students would qualify for vaccines before the end of the semester since young, healthy people are not the priority for Ohio right now.

“My goal would be if everybody that wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated by June,” Tressel said. “I think that would bode well for us for the fall.”

So far this year, 93 coronavirus cases have been reported by YSU students and employees. In 2020, 359 cases were reported from Aug. 1 to Dec. 26.

As of Jan. 16, 19 cases were reported by students on-campus, 70 by students off-campus and four employees.

Gentile said the increase in cases this semester was "manageable, and it was expected" based on students and staff going home to their families at the end of the fall semester and larger gatherings for the holidays over winter break.

Tressel also said the increase in cases can also be attributed to the increase in testing from the previous semester. The university developed new testing protocols for the spring semester. Last semester, coronavirus testing was voluntary for students and faculty.

Gentile said the testing is not required but is highly recommended to students and employees.

The new testing protocols include:

• Students living on-campus were required to get tested before they were able to move into the dorms between Jan. 9-11;
• Depending on the sport, athletes are tested up to three times a week by the YSU athletic department;
• The surveillance program tests all remaining students and faculty on campus. It also focuses on groups of students that are at higher risk of transmission of coronaviruses, such as working in healthcare and teaching programs. Testing occurs Monday through Thursday and is set up by appointment.

Gentile said the YSU COVID-19 dashboard will change in the next couple of weeks to include the results of the new testing protocols. The dashboard will still include the results of bi-weekly testing reported by students and faculty on- and off-campus.

“That will give [anyone] who jumps on there to see how our proactive testing is working for us,” Gentile said.

About 530 students are living on campus for the spring semester, and protocols remain the same from last semester.

Residence halls are open at reduced capacity, modifying several double occupancy rooms to single rooms for students seeking additional distancing measures.

If a student tests positive for coronavirus and lives with another student in a dorm, they are moved to the residence hall reserved for COVID-19 isolation and are quarantined.

Spring semester classes are offered in the same five models as the fall semester: traditional, agile-hybrid campus, virtual campus, online live and web-based. YSU will not have a traditional spring break this year. Instead, the university will have wellness days with no classes on Feb. 16, March 11 and 12, and April 7 and April 23.

Other protocols have remained the same on campus to keep students and employees safe, Gentile said. Some protocols include face mask requirements on campus, social distancing, regular hand cleaning and daily wellness checks.

"Our people are doing a great job," Tressel said.

This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 4:11 AM with the headline "YSU focuses on testing, vaccines for spring semester."