By: Haley Lux
Due to the continued spread of the coronavirus in New York, many universities, colleges, and schools have established social distancing guidelines in order to protect their students.
Daemen College is no exception, testing everyone before they were allowed back and providing health care packages to start out the semester.
Additionally, properly worn masks are required all throughout campus and stickers litter the floors and walls, reminding students to remain 6 feet apart.
Certain classrooms have a tag with a green checkmark hanging on their door knob to indicate that they have been sanitized, and in the library, keyboards must be checked out before students can access them to prevent the spread of germs.
These are only a number of the safety measures in place, but are they enough?
Sarah Lahr, a physical therapy major and sophomore said, “If you look at us compared to other schools, not nearly as many kids have gotten sick.”
Lahr said, “I think things have leveled out and become the new normal.”
Daemen also has a case dashboard that students can reach through the Coronavirus Information & Updates tab on their account page.
Greg Nayor, vice president for Strategic Initiatives, said in an email to the Daemen community, “Our internal dashboard is updated with active cases and testing completed.”
The dashboard allows for students to keep track of covid cases and be further aware of what is happening on campus.
It assures students, faculty and staff that anyone that has been in direct contact with someone who tested positive is contacted immediately and given instructions for daily screening.
This makes the safety awareness and the Daemen slogan “Respect to Protect” that much more important, demonstrating that it is put into action.
“I believe that the safety measures they have taken are sufficient because they make sure to keep all the frequented areas as clean and sanitized as possible,” said Kaitlin Burnett, sophomore English adolescent education major.
Burnett is aware of Daemen’s case dashboard and said she feels safe on campus.
In further reference to safety sufficiency, Burnett said Daemen is, “Also enforcing that people wear masks and social distance as much as possible.”
Daemen has plans that revolve around staying safe for the future as well.
After Thanksgiving break, classes are set to transition directly into remote learning starting Nov. 30 in order to allow students to go home for one period of time to reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus on campus afterwards.
This is, once again, another step the college is taking in order to protect its students in the midst of a global pandemic that has already greatly altered the way they learn.