DAVIS, Calif. — A spike in COVID cases in the community and on the campus of UC Davis has put many of their students on edge. According to the University's COVID-19 dashboard, 1,352 individuals have tested positive on campus between Dec. 31 and Jan. 8.
"We should not be rushing back to in-person on Monday when so many people are COVID positive," said Andy Notte, a fourth year student at UC Davis.
The university's original plan was to move classes online for one week following winter break with a return date initially set for Jan. 10. However, many students still had health and safety concerns and didn't think that was enough time.
A petition was created online demanding that the university offer options for students to go fully virtual moving forward. It also challenged the university's original plan to return to in-person instruction on Monday. Notte is among nearly 7,000 people who signed the petition.
"I didn't want to go sit in class knowing that the people around me — there's a really good chance they're COVID positive, or I could get it, if I'm going from lecture hall to lecture hall every day," he said.
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May released a video and statement last Thursday on the university's website announcing that virtual learning would continue until Jan. 28 due to high positivity rates on campus related to the omicron variant.
"We will always consider the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff as our top priority," May said.
Notte says that although everyone has to learn how to live with COVID, part of that is making life adjustments when cases start to soar.
"It's not gonna be permanent, but sometimes we're gonna need to make these changes," he said.
Chancellor May said he'll provide another update on Jan. 14 in his 'Checking In With Chancellor May' letter.
Sacramento State University also announced a temporary move to virtual learning for the start of the spring semester earlier this week.
In a message to students, university president Robert Nelson said the decision to temporarily move to virtual classes came amid surging coronavirus case numbers and consultation with county health and other officials. It will impact most of their classes and labs. Sacramento State's switch to virtual classes will run from Jan. 24 through Feb. 6.
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