OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — School has only been back in session for two weeks at UWO, but now the university is imposing more restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Almost 500 students have tested positive in three weeks, at a positive rate of 10.5%.
School has only been back in session for two weeks at UWO, but now the university is imposing more restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19.
All students in residence halls will now be tested every other week – half in one week, half in the next. In-person seating at dining halls is off the table for two weeks. All food is now to-go, and that doesn’t sit well with UWO student Janessa Trebino.
“I paid for a meal-plan, where I can eat wherever I wanted, like whatever day of the week it was,” she said. “Every meal-plan is different, but now I’m forced to eat only at two spots on the weekends, so that sucks. That’s not what I’m paying for!”
These new restrictions come after the university limited dorm room visitors to one and all guests to UWO students only.
“I mean, it is safe,” Trebino said. “I know that they’re doing it to keep the students safe but, I mean, we do have a family, we have friends, and now we’re just stuck here!”
Dr. Jennifer Frank, chief medical officer for ThedaCare, says sometimes institutions have no choice but to put these restrictions in place.
“Much like the health system and the community partnering, school systems and their students need to partner to make sure that they’re not taking unacceptable risks,” she said. “Sometimes, those measures are done because people are not complying with what’s being asked of them.”
UWO student Gionna Scoma thinks more restrictions may not work as intended.
“I do think the more restrictions you add on, there are gonna be some kids that aren’t gonna listen,” she said. “They’re just gonna say, ‘Well, I don’t care.'”
Trebino says harsher guidelines should have been in place from the get-go.
“They should have been in place in the beginning, like when school started, so that they didn’t have to see that the cases are going up,” she said. “Then they want to make more restrictionsI think they should’ve put more restrictions in place to begin with.”
Leavitt says the restrictions are being implemented now, because the university has noticed patterns in the data since students returned to campus.
UWO is also testing employees.
None of the 51 university workers tested so far, have been positive.
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