Katelynn Singleton, news editor

Over the last month, Floyd County has seen a decrease in COVID-19 cases. Wednesday, in the weekly update email from the President’s Office, Berry announced they were lifting the mask mandate as of 6 p.m. that night.

In the middle of January, COVID-19 cases reached 272 cases in a seven-day average. As of Feb. 14, there were only 29 cases in the seven-day average. A seven-day average takes the last seven days of cases, adds them together and divides them by seven to get the average number of cases in those seven days. Moving averages use multiples of seven in order to make sure the reporting is even. If an average encompasses 10 days, Sundays and holidays would occur twice, which would skew the data because many testing sites are closed on those days. Multiples of seven ensure that every day is reported evenly.

Two reasons for the decline in cases are people’s previous exposure to other variants and more people receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. According to Christopher Hall, an associate professor of biology, if someone has previously had COVID-19 and are later exposed to the Omicron variant, while they might get sick, it likely won’t be bad enough to require hospitalization.

“Some of the public health efforts that we’ve put into place have definitely made a difference,” Hall said. “We’re going to get some cross-protection amongst the variants until we get one that’s just completely different. Sometimes the vaccine works great on different variants, sometimes it tricks it a little bit. That’s something that we just have to wait and see.”

The current COVID-19 vaccine, according to Hall, is adaptable and can easily adapt to protect against new variants. Hall said that COVID-19 will likely continue to have new variants, just like the flu. Hall said it’s likely that each year people will have to get a new COVID-19 vaccine, just as one currently does for the flu. 

“What we’ve seen with Omicron is not unexpected, but it’s almost like we’re getting used to it,” Hall said. “We may see [variants] coming once a year, or twice a year or something, but again, that’s something that we live with.”

Berry administration has constantly been evaluating the mandates in place on campus since the beginning of the pandemic. Lindsey Taylor, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said that the cases in the area suggested to administration that easing up restrictions would be the best decision.

“I am cautiously optimistic that we’re heading in the right direction,” Taylor said. 

There are multiple layers to mitigation strategies. These include making vaccines readily available, regular testing and the requirement of masks. Chief of Staff Debbie Heida said that one of the first things that Berry would remove is the mask mandate. Just like last November, masks have become optional, with faculty being allowed to make their own decisions about requiring masks in their classrooms. 

The weekly update encourages those who are more at risk for COVID-19 to continue to wear protective masks, such as N95, KN95 and KF94 masks, as they provide more protection. Individuals who are not yet vaccinated are also asked to continue to wear masks due to them being more at risk of infection. The update also encourages students to be cautious when leaving campus, as the vaccination numbers in the surrounding areas are not as high as on campus.

Administration makes decisions based on the reporting of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Georgia Department of Public Health when making their decisions. They also have close relations with Dr. Gary Voccio, the health director for the Northwest Georgia Public Health Department. 

“Dr. Voccio has been a consultant with us throughout this process, in a lot of ways, saying ‘here’s what I’m seeing,’” Heida said. “He doesn’t tell us what to do, but does say ‘here’s what I’m seeing in our region.’ It’s really trying to get as much information as we can.”

Floyd County’s positive case numbers are still well above 20%, according to Heida. Berry watches the percentage of positive cases, and makes decisions on what mitigation strategies will be in place based on the percentage.

“Nobody has a crystal ball to say, ‘Ok, are we really done? Is that a light at the end of the tunnel really a light, or is it a freight train?’” Heida said. “We just don’t know what’s happening with [Omicron]. The best we can do is make good decisions based on what information we currently have.”