Central Ohio colleges vary in their approach to COVID-19
Ohio State is spending $2 million a week on COVID-19 testing, according to a university spokesman–even testing randomly selected students in order to uncover asymptomatic cases as well. Those who test positive and those who are exposed are quarantined. The school is limiting the size of gatherings, and classes are being conducted remotely when possible. Those courses that do occur in person are conducted with students socially distanced. Mask orders remain in place.
These measures have led President Kristina Johnson to praise the Buckeyes for starting to flatten the curve.
“All your hard work is paying off. Keep it up. We got this!” she tweeted.
What is going on elsewhere in central Ohio?
Classes are in session at Ohio Dominican University. The school posts COVID-19 updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the most recent post on Sept. 11 noted that 24 members of the student body and staff had tested positive.
Otterbein has had a limited number of classes meeting in person, mostly select first-year courses and courses with significant lab work that could not be easily replicated online. However, starting this week, they are shifting to resuming most of their courses in whatever format they were originally intended.
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Ohio Wesleyan is utilizing a hybrid-model while offering a fully remote experience for high-risk students. In-person instruction will end at Thanksgiving Break, following the advice of health officials who have warned that there may be a resurgence of the pandemic at that time.
Denison has also adopted a hybrid model, with some of their in-person classes being moved outdoors. Over the weekend, the school started permitting campus organizations to gather indoors or outdoors but with no more than 20 people physically present.
Capital University is conducting classes remotely until September 21. When students do return to campus, they will be tested upon their arrival. Random testing will be ongoing.
Columbus State Community College and Franklin University have moved almost all their classes online for at least the fall semester.
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