Asa Daniels, senior staff writer

From Jan. 2 to 9, Berry College conducted a number of return-to-campus testing events, according to the Office of the President’s Jan. 13 email. From that testing cycle, 7% of students, 69 of 1,014, tested positive on campus, with 54 of the positive cases having been vaccinated. 7% of faculty and staff, 32 of 488, tested positive as well, with 27 having been vaccinated. Student Affairs conducted testing for students in the Cage Center, with Health Center per diem nurses helping to conduct the tests, according to Lindsey Taylor, vice president of student affairs.

According to the Berry Healthy Together webpage, testing protocols have changed, as per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Now, students and employees who are not vaccinated and do not have a prior COVID-19 infection will test twice a week.

Students and employees who are vaccinated but not boosted, or who have had a prior COVID-19 infection without vaccination will test every other week on a rotating basis. One is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after the completion of a COVID-19 vaccination series. 

Students and employees who are boosted will test occasionally depending on circumstances.

The Berry Healthy Together webpage also explains that isolation and quarantine protocols have changed as per CDC guidelines. Students and employees who test positive are to isolate for five days. If they are asymptomatic at that time, they can leave isolation, but must wear a mask at all times for another five days. This includes being in one’s dorm room, Lauren Wehunt, director of the Health Center, explained. 

People who are exposed and unvaccinated, or over six months from their second mRNA dose, or two months after the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, without having been boosted, are to quarantine for five days, followed by the same five-day strict mask mandate.

People who have been exposed, but are boosted, do not need to quarantine but will need to wear a mask at all times for ten days. If one is exposed, a COVID-19 test will be conducted on the fifth day since the exposure. If an individual tests positive for the COVID-19 virus, they do not have to test on day five to end their isolation.

All students who isolate or quarantine are expected to go home, though there may be exceptions for students who would have to travel long distances, Lindsay Norman, associate dean of students, said.

If a student is concerned about returning home, they are to contact Residence Life. In that case, there are a few options, Norman said. There are a limited number of spots available at the Oak Hill Residences, which also require that students get their own food from delivery services such as DoorDash. It also costs students $60 a night to stay, according to Norman.

Norman explained that this change from prior semesters is rooted in the fact that Berry has very limited space in which to house students who need to isolate/quarantine.

“Before, we had many more spaces, so we accommodated more students, so I think that’s a little bit of a surprise to students, I think we’ve been telling them in the communication, but we’ve had to remind some folks,” Norman said. “I can feel their frustration too, but this is where we [are] with spaces that we have.”

Norman also explained that food delivery in this case is being limited to only the Residences because they do not want non-Berry affiliated delivery persons to drop-off food on main campus.

“We’d really like to keep Berry students and Berry students only in the residence halls so I think having other people come through that aren’t affiliated with Berry is more problematic, so we’ve chosen to really separate it out at Oak Hill,” Norman said.

Last academic year, the dining hall delivered food to students on campus, but Norman explained that this was a major logistical challenge that cannot be replicated at this time.

“It took maybe 25 students, 15 volunteers a week [and] we had a grad student in our office whose full-time job was that and we don’t have him anymore,” Norman said. “So, it’s a huge undertaking and it was really more than we could handle and we felt like we are at a point now where we know more, we know students can go home, so that’s where we’re sending them.”

Students can also stay in local hotels, paying for their own expenses at such locations. Norman said that Residence Life is communicating with all involved students to work with them on where they can isolate/quarantine.

While Norman coordinated the return to campus testing, she explained that Casee Gilbert, director of hospitality and event services, who has been managing the weekly testing on campus for the whole pandemic, provided guidance in their process.

“[Gilbert] really took all of the wisdom she has learned over the last two years with testing and applied that to ours, so we did benefit a lot from Casee, telling us how technology works in the arena and how to set it up,” Norman said. “We were on the ground, but she was a big part of the background of it.”

While Berry has seen a large increase in COVID-19 cases after the first week of classes following the return-to-campus testing, there have also been issues with Berry’s Medicat system and the Georgia Department of Public Health’s program, Georgia’s Registry of Immunization Transaction and Services (GRITS). These programs are used to help record student testing and vaccination status data.

Taylor explained that GRITS has had a longstanding issue where it takes time for them to process information into their partner systems, such as Medicat. If data sourced from GRITS is pulled from Medicat, Berry may have incomplete data, according to Taylor. At the same time, Medicat’s system marked a mediator program being used by Berry as a potential virus, shutting down communication between the two. Further, Berry is still in the process of going through a backlog of positive cases that occurred during the winter break that need verification, a process that takes time. This includes the return to campus testing data, which included a much larger number of students than have been tested previously at Berry for return to campus.

Taylor explained that this information, though sometimes currently challenging to get, is essential for mitigation procedures at Berry and in helping to control COVID-19 in the greater community.

Taylor explained that the Berry community does not want to be taxing to the local hospitals when it comes to resources.

Chief of Staff, Debbie Heida, explained that Berry’s driving principle has been to maintain safe in-person instruction during the pandemic, which also needs that data.

“The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff are the most important principle that we’re gonna operate on, and so each time we’ve made adjustments or developed protocols, it’s been what will keep us safe and well so we can remain in person,” Heida said. “Our goal is to be in-person, our goal is to make sure that you get the education that is the hallmark of a Berry education and to do that, how do we function as a community in order to stay safe and well.”

According to Wehunt, there is some hope that the present surge will dissipate soon. 

“We are hopeful at this point that as quickly as this surge has come, that it will quickly leave and hopefully come back to a sense of what we feel is some normalcy, whatever that is directed at,” Wehunt said.

Taylor said that once Berry is around a 5% positivity rate, Berry will begin to lessen COVID-19 protocols, similar to the end of the 2021 fall semester. However, she added that Berry will be considering the local Rome/Floyd County community numbers at the same time.

“If Rome/Floyd County is still five, we’re not going to change mitigation strategies here, because how often do [students] go off campus?” Taylor said. “There are lots of students who go off campus multiple times a day.” 

Heida said that Berry appreciates people’s frustration with the continuing pandemic.

“I think people are just so tired of it, you know, if you talk with folks and they have a reaction, it’s mostly that they’re frustrated about how we could still be dealing with this and I think that’s just the reality right now, there’s a level of frustration with it as well as knowing we’ve got to do things to keep everybody safe,” Heida said. “But I think people would really like something that’s just one thing they have to do and it’s just not that simple.”

Wehunt added that it is important for people to be understanding with each other during this time.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, we just gotta have grace with each other and we’re just gonna have to get through it together,” Wehunt said.

Wehunt also explained that students are to contact the Health Center if they are feeling unwell or were potentially exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Additionally, students are encouraged to contact the Health Center regarding any health concerns they have, even with the present surge of COVID-19 cases.

“We are available, we’re here, we want to help, so we want to encourage them to come utilize us, especially if they have questions,” Wehunt said.

Taylor added that it is important for people to try to put the COVID-19 pandemic into perspective and to remember that it is affecting everyone.

“We need to be gracious; we need to be thankful, but we also need to be prudent and making sure our community’s safe and that may mean to set aside our own comforts,” Taylor said. “Stop thinking about it in terms of ‘this is happening to me’, it’s not. It’s happening to all of us.”

Taylor added that she wants students to use their resources if they feel isolated or are in great distress with the present situation and the continuation of the pandemic.

“It’s been heavy on a lot of people and I’m reading a lot on the impact of Covid on mental health and so I also want to say, if anyone is struggling and wrestling with that, please raise their hand, reach out to someone that they trust,” Taylor said.

Heida added that she is thankful for the Berry community in their continued efforts to protect each other through the various protocols in place.

“There is no magic answer other than Berry students are really good about helping each other through tough times and I think they just continue to do that,” Heida said.

On Friday, Berry hosted a COVID-19 vaccine clinic. According to the Office of the President’s Jan. 19 update, 234 students and 33 employees received their booster shot, and 4 students and 1 employee received their vaccination. Between Dec. 27 and Jan. 18, 324 students tested positive, with 221 of them being symptomatic.