Global COVID Surge Impacts Reed

By: Vincent Tanforan

While students spent winter break with family and friends around the world, a new surge of the COVID-19 virus was building. New variants of the virus and the large social gatherings associated with holiday travel contributed to a global COVID surge. As members of the Reed community return to campus for the beginning of the spring semester, safety has become a major priority. 

Between January 7 and 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that COVID-19 made up 4.3% of all deaths in the United States. This marked an increase of 10.3% from the previous week. This rise in numbers can be traced to the new JN.1 variant, which first emerged in fall 2023. As of January 22, the CDC stated that the JN.1 variant made up 83 to 88% of COVID-19 cases, an increase from the 55 to 68% the organization reported two weeks earlier. 

The CDC also noted on January 5 that COVID-19 infection levels were higher than they were at the same time of year in 2023. However, the number of hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 was reported to be lower than last year. The CDC linked this pattern to “greater immune protection levels provided by vaccines, prior infection, or both,” which have minimized the severity of the illness.

The present surge is proving to be an uncharted territory. Apart from the ongoing effects of the virus itself, the changing landscape of COVID-19 policy makes this an unprecedented time in the history of the pandemic. On May 11, 2023, the public health emergency for COVID-19 in the United States was lifted. Since then, policies dealing with the pandemic at the federal and state levels have largely been loosened to fit the new designation of COVID-19.

Currently, the Oregon Health Authority does not require people with COVID-19 to self-isolate, but instructs people to “mask when you are around other people in the 10 days after you become sick or test positive” and “stay home until you have not had a fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication and other COVID-19 symptoms are improving.”

In conjunction with these policies, the Reed website’s COVID-19 FAQ page announces that masks are no longer a requirement on campus outside of the Health and Counseling Center. However, the website continues, “The college highly encourages mask-wearing during periods of elevated COVID activity in the community.” 

The COVID-19 FAQ goes on to say, “In the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, Reed’s Emergency Response Team will take steps to assess the situation, make changes to policies or activities as needed, and share updates and guidance with the campus community.”

Associate Dean of Students for Health and Well-Being Dr. Yasodha Gopal acknowledged the current COVID situation, stating, “With our students just returning from all over the globe, we expect numbers to most certainly rise and as with all winter viruses, masking and vaccinating are our primary forms of protection.” Dr. Gopal added that “much has changed after the lifting of the National Emergency in May of 2023.”

Reed College is maintaining its COVID policies of May 2023 during the ongoing surge, although this may change under the direction of national health organizations. Dr. Gopal stated, “In partnership with our public health colleagues and the CDC, we are always ready to pivot based on their guidance as things change as they always do. We may shift based on their recommendations but at present, we still adhere to our CDC recommendations.”

Dr. Gopal mentioned that Reed is “connected to our public health colleagues and peer schools and [trying] to update info on our HCC website and Covid pages.” As of January 28, the Reed HCC and COVID FAQ webpages contain general information about the virus, without specifically mentioning the current surge. No campus-wide communication has gone out about the surge. 

Above all, masking and vaccination are highly important in preventing the spread of COVID-19, as with any other outbreak. “Masking is the best barrier for any respiratory illness,” said Dr. Gopal. Masks are available on campus–in the mailroom, which is open from 9 AM - 4 PM Monday through Friday. 

Dr. Gopal further advised that “anyone with an immunocompromised condition or respiratory symptoms should be masking to avoid illness and those with respiratory symptoms should mask to prevent spread,” adding that “Vaccines are widely available for those without contraindications to the vaccine.”

As of January 26, CDC data showed that only 11.1% of children and 21.8% of adults have received an updated COVID-19 vaccine for 2023-24. With the known link between vaccination and less severe illness, getting vaccinated and staying up to date with vaccines to counter evolving variants of the virus are crucial for living safely in the post-COVID world.As the World Health Organization cautioned, the lifting of the public health emergency “does not mean the pandemic itself is over, but the global emergency it caused is – for now.” COVID may no longer be an emergency, but the pandemic is not yet over. Taking steps like masking, vaccinating, and isolating (after testing positive) are necessary to protect yourself and others, especially immunocompromised members of the community, in this uncharted territory of COVID-19 management.