The University of Florida’s reopening plan took center stage Wednesday at a joint Alachua Board of County Commissioners and Gainesville City Commission meeting, with both officials and citizens expressing concerns that the planned Aug. 31 reopening could lead to an increase in COVID-19 infection rates.
“For all of us, there is a significant degree of concern about what happens when, pick your city, 30 to 50,000 people come from all around the country and all around the world,” Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe said during the virtual meeting, which was streamed live online and on television.
UF Senior Vice President Charlie Lane and UF Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. David Nelson took part via Zoom video conference, communicating details about the university’s reopening plan and answering questions from officials and citizens, who dialed in.
“We have the capacity to test up to 1,000 folks a day and we’ve already come close to hitting that on a few occasions,” Lane said. “And when our students come back, we may very well have to take advantage of that.”
Lane and Nelson said testing for COVID-19 and contact tracing provides the foundation for the university’s effort to reopen safely. According to Nelson, contact tracers will speak with students or faculty who test positive for COVID-19 within 24 hours of receiving the test result.
“If I’m positive, they’re going to call me and say, ‘Hey, Dave Nelson, I need you to walk me through the last couple days of your life and tell me if you’re symptomatic.’ They try to determine who you may have been into a high-risk exposure contact with, and that’s generally 15 minutes within 6 feet,” Nelson said.
The testing data also allows UF Health epidemiologists to track the spread of the virus as part of the massive public health initiative the university is calling UF Health Screen, Test and Protect.
Another key element of the university’s plan is the ability to provide adequate personal protective equipment to students and employees. Lane said UF has 1.4 million disposable masks and 140,000 cloth masks available. The school is also placing sanitizing stations and signage encouraging social distancing throughout campus.
Lane told officials about efforts to socially distance students, including changes to building occupancies. UF intends to offer 35% of course sections in an online format at a predetermined time, and another 35% are scheduled to be face-to-face or hybrid models, where some work is done online, and the rest would be traditional online classes offered in an asynchronous format with no set class time.
One of the most pressing issues brought up by officials and citizens is UF’s ability to enforce safety protocols.
“We can require mask wearing on campus everywhere. The problems that we have run into in the last couple of weeks is there was a house party off campus that a lot of people got sick at,” Gainesville Commissioner David Arreola said. “We need to be taking more restrictive measures.”
Robert Mounts, president of Gainesville’s University Park Neighborhood Association, called in to report issues raised at a recent association meeting by residents living north of campus.
“There are concerns about gatherings over 10, off-campus pool parties at apartment complexes… and of course Midtown bars and restaurants,” Mounts said. “One person suggested a direct letter from (UF President) Dr. Fuchs to all incoming students basically emphasizing the standard of behavior that they’re expected to maintain both on and off campus.”
Multiple Gainesville residents called in to report seeing people without masks in grocery stores, restaurants and other public spaces, and expressed skepticism that extra mandates from UF will change student behavior.
UF survey data, according to Lane, indicates a large majority of students report wearing masks and complying with social distancing guidelines, but cities, towns and schools have often found it difficult to enforce these safety mandates.
Lane admits there’s no way to accurately predict how many students will refuse to comply with UF health and safety policies.
“When these students come back, we have no idea really what exposures we can expect in terms of behaviors,” Lane said. “All I can tell you is we’re trying to inculcate in everyone an attitude, an environment in which they feel like they need to not only protect themselves but protect their fellow students and employees.”
County Commissioner Robert Hutchinson and Mayor Poe pledged to setup another joint meeting with UF representatives before school starts August 31, with Poe emphasizing the importance of close cooperation between city, county and UF officials as both the college and K-12 schools continue to develop their fall plans.
Over the next month, Nelson and Lane expect to have a more defined metric for determining what scenarios could trigger a return to all online classes, or other changes to the reopening plan.
Officials who spoke during the virtual meeting all expressed concerns and anxieties about UF’s reopening, and while most were reassured by the discussion, Arreola still has major issues with bringing tens of thousands of students back to Gainesville.
“About a month ago, I was really, really warmed to the idea of reopening the campus… But when we became the new epicenter of the world, for me, that conversation ended,” Arreola said. “I don’t feel comfortable. I really don’t. And I’m not sure exactly what policies we have because I don’t know what more we can do.”