College of St. Scholastica Implements New Protocols

Colleges have been back in session for about a month and as the pandemic continues, one of them is changing some of its protocols after seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases.

DULUTH, Minn. – Colleges have been back in session for about a month and as the pandemic continues, one of them is changing some of its protocols after seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases.

Changes have begun at the College of St. Scholastica after the school saw a rise in COVID cases.

Right now, the college makes decisions based on an alert dashboard that follows guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health and through those parameters, the school recently moved from a level one alert to a level two with the number of cases it has.

Currently, the school has 65 people who have tested positive and are being quarantined along with another 14 people in isolation.

Those in isolation have been exposed or have had symptoms but have not tested positive for the virus.

The school is actively tracing 16 cases, which they do not have results for yet.

Because of the rise in cases, CSS has limited groups to a maximum of ten. This applies to things like athletic practices or student events.

“It’s a way to slow the amount of possible exposure or spread because we know that in our traditional-aged students 20 to 24, those who are on campus, they are mostly asymptomatic so we worry about the asymptomatic students,” said Steve Lyons, the vice president of student affairs.

Lyons says students have been doing their best to follow the previous implemented guidelines like social distancing and wearing a mask and they hope that they will do the same for these new rules.

“Up to now the students have been amazing,” said Lyons. “I mean, we have, our students have been following our protocols and are holding each other accountable. It’s really been remarkable.”

Ally Motz, a freshman we caught up with at CSS, says that it’s a challenge because through these restrictions, it’s harder to meet people.

“It’s been really difficult to meet with friends lately and make friends because even during the lunches and anything, you’re limited to four people per table,” said Motz. “And there hasn’t been many opportunities to talk with people even if you have it in person.”

However, she understands that the restrictions that are being implemented as it helps with the spread.

“I understand that we need to be social distant to prevent from people from getting COVID,” said Motz. “It’s been difficult in that respect. It’s kind of interesting to see the world we live in.”

Through contact tracing, the school has had no cases that have come from an academic setting.