Fall Sickness Spreads Through Dean College

Hand sanitizers are advocated to be used in public. Photo Credit: Jacob Murtagh

Dean College, in recent days, has seen an increase in cold-related cases among students. Many students are seen wearing masks to either protect themselves or to protect others from the spread of the cold on the campus. It is also the time of the flu season as Fall begins to approach New England and the Franklin area. One student, Samantha Jordan, majoring in Psychology, was asked if she was concerned about the growing cases of students getting sick. “I'm going to be honest; I had COVID last year. And it just really made me feel tired, so for me, I'm not super concerned. What I'm more concerned about is for other people, especially people who are high risk or people that you know could really be affected. Especially as we come closer to the holidays. If people are having COVID and are seeing extended families, like their grandmother or their uncle that you know might have a condition, that's more what I am worried about for their safety, rather than you know my own.”

Another student who will remain anonymous states that, “I couldn't tell you, I'm a germaphobe and I haven't been sick for a few years.” The Dean Daily spoke with Dave Drucker, the Associate Vice President, Student Life and Dean of Students, about what the college is doing to help students protect themselves from the spreading sickness. 

Discussing the protocols that Dean College is using to inform the community on the steps to take if they were to get sick with a COVID-like strain. David Drucker said that “Every year, there are discussions about what the current COVID protocols are... should someone contract COVID, what they want to be able to do is to isolate. If they have a fever, and generally, the rule of thumb is that they should isolate themselves until they are 24 hours fever-free without the use of some type of medication...We still encourage students for the next few days to wear masks. There is no longer a mask mandate, but we do ask people to mask, especially if they are indoors and or in highly populated areas. If you’re outdoors, not so much. And additionally, again, just from a precautionary standpoint, we would prefer, at times, if a student is in those first few days, that they may be taken out from the dining center...”

Chapman House exterior has Health and Services. Photo Credit: Jacob Murtagh

Chapman House exterior has Health and Services. Image Source: By Jacob Murtagh

David Drucker continues the conversation, explaining that “One thing that makes COVID or the flu, any type of contagion. What's different on a college campus is that 90% of our students live here. So, a lot of people will come in close contact, some of the preventative measures that we talk about, whether it’s encouraging masking or just making sure you wash your hands with soap and water...not sharing your water bottle, things like that. All those things are great preventative measures for germs in general. Because we’re also coming into flu season, and so you have a lot of people living in the residence halls as well as dining together, having class together, so the more students that follow those, the better off they’re going to be.”

We also asked how the college can reassure students on campus about preventing the spread of diseases. “Well, I think naturally, regardless of whether it’s COVID or the flu or the common cold, we’re going to see illnesses every year...The best that we can do is to just continue to educate all of our students about not only just preventative measures, like washing hands and things like that. But also having you know the essentials in their room. Our health services will often work with students on the types of things that you might want to bring with you to campus... Of course, the nice thing is being right here in town, we have about 5 different pharmacies that are about a half mile from the college, and so there’s plenty of opportunities, and in addition to whatever you might get in health services...”

David Drucker continues and states, “I don't think it's so much reassurance. I think it's more about students understanding how to take the proper precautions, and if you do happen to get sick or under the weather, here’s how you would take care of yourself. Because I think that's the most important part. To think about college and long after college. Like, what are the essentials, all those basics that can serve as precautions.”

To access the updated guidelines, you can find them in the Family newsletter on the Dean College homepage. The website will also put the information on its health and services link. If you would like to have a checkup or testing for flu or Covid-19 symptoms, the Health Services office is located in Chapman House and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.