Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
jmilani@murraystate.edu
Colleges across the commonwealth of Kentucky have been attempting to make the college experience safe as the 2020-21 school year has gone on and Murray State has been able to do so, registering the third lowest number of positive cases among the eight public institutions of higher education in the 2021 spring semester.
For schools like Murray State, COVID-19 cases have been down during the spring semester compared to the fall semester. A look into each university’s COVID-19 case count on their respective websites show just that.
Murray State has had 99 positive cases, making for a total of 576 positive cases this school year. Kentucky State University reported the fewest positive cases so far, with 31 cases in the spring semester.
Meanwhile, the University of Kentucky has had the most positive cases this semester with 1,324 positive cases, followed by the University of Louisville with 573 positive cases.
Eastern Kentucky University followed with 263 positive cases this semester while Morehead State University has had 82 positive tests.
Western Kentucky University has reported 1,292 total cases across the school year. Northern Kentucky University recently reported that there are 101 active cases on campus.
Murray State freshman secondary education major Madeline Oxendine said she thinks cases are down this semester because everyone has followed the guidelines so well.
“I think everybody realized how significant of a situation we’re in and that wearing masks and following guidelines is the way to go,” Oxendine said. “I feel like the guidelines have helped as far as social distancing and wearing masks and limiting capacities. It’s shown a difference this semester.”
Oxendine also pointed out the size of colleges across the state as a reason for why numbers might be down.
“There aren’t as many (students) here as there are in, say, UK,” Oxendine said. “I think that plus our compliance with the guidelines has really helped this semester.”
Murray State freshman non-profit leadership major Alissa Peal said students are finally taking into consideration what they need to do this semester.
“I do think the guidelines have helped keep the case numbers low last semester and lower them this semester,” Peal said. “I also think the free vaccines that we are giving out have helped us a lot.”
Peal said the size of the community in which the college or university is in also plays a role in the number of on campus cases.
“We are a smaller school and our community isn’t as big, so we don’t see a lot of people coming in and out,” Peal said. “But we also have to take into consideration that we live in a county and a city that has a lot of older people so we are trying to protect them as well.”
Murray State, Morehead State, Kentucky State and the University of Kentucky were the only public institutions in the state to forego a spring break. Of those three institutions, Murray State, Morehead State and Kentucky State have the lowest number of cases in the spring semester
Oxendine attributes Murray State’s success with low COVID-19 cases to students not being able to travel as much during this semester, although that brought about challenges of its own.
“I think that our numbers were down because we weren’t able to travel as much,” Oxendine said. “Even though the lack of a spring break helped the numbers, it didn’t help us mentally and emotionally and that should be considered with the COVID guidelines. The lack of physical connection with other people has taken a toll despite the numbers.”
Peal also said she believes the numbers would be a lot higher than they are had there been a spring break this semester.
“I know a lot of students like to go to the beach,” Peal said. “That’s just a college thing. That would’ve made things worse.”
Murray State President Bob Jackson announced via email on Tuesday, April 27, that the University will no longer require masks outdoors on campus. The announcement comes after Gov. Andy Beshear released a statement that said that masks will no longer be required in outdoor events with less than 1000 people.
“Murray State University (MSU) strongly encourages all members of our campus community and beyond to get a COVID-19 vaccination,” Jackson said in the email. MSU and our healthcare partners have been administering COVID-19 vaccinations at the Regional Vaccination Center at the CFSB Center since February. Our faculty, staff and students who desired a COVID-19 vaccine at this location have received one. Also, many members of our campus community have used other healthcare providers, pharmacies, the Calloway County Health Department, among others, for their vaccinations.”
With the spring semester coming to an end and preparation for fall 2021 , colleges and universities across the Bluegrass State will look to bring a sense of normalcy back to the college experience while keeping its students, faculty and staff safe.
Most schools are doing so by encouraging students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated, despite some wanting schools to mandate them.
As far as Murray State goes for the fall 2021 semester, if this will be required of students, faculty and staff, it will not be mandated according to Jackson.
“While the University cannot require vaccinations due to several state and federal legal issues, coupled with an individual’s ability to opt out of receiving a vaccination by law, we strongly encourage our campus community to get vaccinated,” Jackson said in the email. “To date, based on these reasons, coupled with the emergency use authorization provision as applied by the Food and Drug Administration, COVID-19 vaccinations have not been mandated by Governor Andy Beshear, the Commonwealth of Kentucky or the federal government.”
The Murray State News will continue to report COVID-19 case numbers on campus weekly and will update our readers amidst the pandemic.