We’ve been living with the COVID-19 virus for over a year now, so most of us are experts in dealing with exposure and keeping each other safe. Despite this, it’s come to the attention of us here on the Editorial Board that Murray State University doesn’t have a policy indicating what faculty should do if a student exposes their class to the virus. What should be done in order to inform students of their exposure? Should faculty be obligated to inform their students of exposure?
First, we need to look at the policy that Murray State does have with COVID-19. According to the University website, all individuals, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, must wear face masks indoors. They also recommend getting vaccinated , and if a student or someone other than faculty or staff have been exposed to the virus, they are asked to quarantine at home… and that’s it. Other than the Racer Safe and Healthy Guidelines, faculty or staff have no idea whether to inform their students if they have been exposed or not. What would happen if a student who was exposed caught the virus, and didn’t know? They would then expose even more people, leading to a ripple effect of infection. That is not only dangerous, but irresponsible on the University’s part.
Now, we know that knowing they’ve been exposed can cause fear and terror among students if they were to become aware of their exposure. This is a scary thing that we are all going through, but it’s better to know and take precautions and be scared for the time being than being unaware of your exposure and spreading it to more people because you weren’t informed of exposure. . We aren’t saying that faculty won’t tell their students if they are exposed, but it could happen. There could be a faculty member who doesn’t see COVID-19 as a big deal, and could continue coming to class after exposure, thus exposing each of their students to the virus. This would be unacceptable and would cause our already high case number to rise even further. Being exposed is scary, but having the virus and unknowingly spreading it to others is even scarier.
Faculty should be obligated to share this information with their students. Whether or not there is a policy in place, all faculty should understand the risks that are caused by continuing an in-person curriculum. Despite wearing masks, , it’s unknown who could be carrying the virus, and it can transmit in other ways, including papers carrying bacteria, lending a pencil or pen to someone who doesn’t have one, or even just taking your mask down for a second to take a drink could cause the virus to travel into your body and cause the sickness that has killed millions of people around the world. We here on the Editorial Board call upon the University to implement a policy that would have faculty and staff inform students of their exposure if they have been exposed. It makes the University safer and gives us a higher chance of eradicating this virus and ending the pandemic.