Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER
In the last two months, the UTRGV COVID-19 Task Force Confirmed Cases Dashboard reported a total of 100 cases on campus. This increase calls for a diligent start to the spring semester, according to a UTRGV official.
Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services and chair of the UTRGV Infectious Disease Committee, said he credits this uptick to gatherings during the holiday season.
“You have Halloween, you have Thanksgiving, you have Christmas,” Arney said. “When people gather, they don’t follow the protocols that are set in place.”
The last time the university accumulated 100 cases was between July 30 and Nov. 3. Thus, UTRGV reported the same number of cases in almost half the time over winter break.
Patrick Gonzales, associate vice president for University Marketing and Communications, attributes the public’s fatigue with the pandemic as another factor in the rise of cases.
“There are many people that are just tired of social distancing, tired of wearing masks and, you know, it’s up to us,” Gonzales said. “One thing we want to do as we get ready to start the spring semester is just to remind our students, faculty and staff that following social distancing guidelines, specifically the ones set up for our campus, is gonna be really important to keep everybody safe as we move forward.”
Asked what the spring semester will look like in terms of COVID-19 protocol, Arney replied it will be much like the fall semester.
According to an email from Deputy President and Interim Provost Janna Arney sent to the campus community in November, the spring semester will be similar to the fall with some important changes.
“We will have nearly 3% more hybrid courses, 3% more online synchronous, and 13% more traditional courses. This means a reduction of almost 20% in online asynchronous courses,” the message reads.
Between Dec. 23 and 29, the UTRGV COVID-19 Task Force Confirmed Cases Dashboard reported five positives in the campus community. Among those five are three staff, one faculty member and one student.
Arney said the student is currently being quarantined on campus.
UTRGV continues to administer testing at its four locations in Edinburg, Brownsville, Mercedes and Harlingen.
Students in need of a COVID-19 test should contact the UTRGV Clinical Site during its hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The numbers to call for the Edinburg and Brownsville locations are 665-2511 and 882-3896.
All patients in need of a test must also complete a mandatory telephone screening before proceeding to schedule an appointment. The telephone number for screening is (833) 887-4863.
