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Monday marked the first day of on-campus activity at USC this year after two weeks of remote instruction. Following a surge of the Omicron variant that peaked at 1.35 million cases in the U.S. on Jan. 10, students grapple with the desire to be in person while remaining concerned about the safety of their peers.
As of Jan. 15, 257 employees and 1,787 students tested positive for COVID-19. After testing positive last week, freshman journalism major Sabrina Rubio attended the first day of class via Zoom from USC isolation housing.
“I definitely have mixed opinions. I don’t want to be online. At least for me, it’s harder to learn online. What’s the point of going to class online when you’re not getting the full experience? But also, I get that it’s not super safe to be in person,” Rubio said. “Even if we are online, people are still going to get COVID. I got COVID when school was online.”
For other students, in-person instruction is unfeasible due to pre-existing health conditions. Maria Cherezova, a freshman studying business administration, opted for the remote option as she finishes her fifth and final round of chemotherapy for leukemia.
“From a health and safety perspective, I would not want to be in class in person because my immune system’s already compromised and then with Omicron, it’s just really risky,” Cherezova said. “I’m really happy that a lot of the professors are keeping their classes flexible, but I do feel the downside of Zoom and I would rather be in person if I could.”
While immunocompromised students can be accommodated, students who are healthy but are weary of in-person instruction must face their discomfort as many professors do not offer online options.
“I’m not immune compromised, but I don’t want COVID. I really don’t. I’ve seen what it does to people. A lot of people in my life have gotten COVID and struggle with long COVID,” Alyssa Delarosa, a senior psychology major, said. “There shouldn’t be any caveats, guilt-tripping, or anything like that. It should just be that we are all different people, different humans.”
USC’s Trojan Check requirements have been updated to reflect the surge of COVID-19. All vaccinated and boosted students are required to test weekly. Non-boosted students will be required to test twice weekly. Those eligible are required to receive the booster shot by Jan. 30.
“It’s a good way to encourage people to get vaccinated and get their boosters. I feel like I know people who wouldn’t have gotten their boosters unless it was required,” Rubio said. “I would not have known I had COVID any other way, I probably wouldn’t have gotten tested on my own unless I thought I had it.”
Mirroring the CDC’s revised five-day isolation period for asymptomatic individuals, USC shortened the isolation guidelines to five days if “symptoms are improving, they have been fever-free for 24 hours AND a specific diagnostic testing,” according to USC student health.
“The whole back-to-normal vibe that they’re basically forcing on us is not okay…America, in general, is mandating return to work and they cut isolation time for that reason. This is definitely a systemic issue,” Delarosa said. “USC upholds that system because they always have the right to opt out and the right to take care of their students– all of their students, not just their able-bodied students. It’s infuriating.”