Archive: Spring 2023 Open letter to Chancellor Mnookin and UW–Madison COVID Response Team
Policy asks for University of Wisconsin COVID Policies for the spring semester 2023, delivered 1/23/2023
Finalized: January 16, 2023
Delivered via email: January 23, 2023
112 people have signed the letter as of the date of this posting, 4/23/2023
Dear Chancellor Mnookin and the UW COVID Response Team,
We are UW workers, students, and Madison community members who are concerned about the University's pandemic response. This is a follow-up to a letter that was signed by many on campus regarding the fall semester (https://bit.ly/uwcovidletter).
UW–Madison has an opportunity to be a leader and demonstrate that a better approach to COVID is possible. We have the science to stop COVID transmission; it’s only a matter of will. Here at UW, we have the talent and resources to prevent transmission. We can lead on the pandemic if we choose to. As with climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis that requires local response.
We urge UW–Madison to implement the following steps to address the ongoing pandemic by taking effective measures as soon as possible, including universal masking with N95s, flexible course attendance policies, virtual options, air quality improvements, testing availability, and continued reporting. Specifically, we request the following from UW–Madison:
Involve students, faculty, and staff in COVID decision-making, including utilizing shared governance procedures.
Masking
Implement universal high-quality masking requirements on campus in shared spaces.
Require masking in communal areas such as classrooms, campus buses, and crowded spaces.
Allow individuals to request masking requirements in shared spaces necessary for their work and education.
Allow exemptions for those working alone in private offices and for those driving alone in campus vehicles.
Where other exemptions to the mask requirement are made such as for eating, drinking, receiving medical care, or performing heavy physical labor, other robust protections (e.g. enhanced HEPA filtration, increased distancing) must be provided to prevent virus transmission.
Make high-quality masks available at convenient locations on campus.
Education and Work Flexibility and Leave
Require flexible course attendance policies so that students are not penalized if they miss class due to illness, quarantine, or isolation.
Provide and prioritize virtual options to increase accessibility for all and to improve accommodations for disabled students and workers.
Provide support, flexibility, and sufficient paid leave for students, staff, and faculty affected by COVID infection, long COVID, and other personal and family medical and caregiving impacts of the pandemic.
Testing and Contact Tracing
Reinstate PCR testing for members of the campus community.
Provide a mechanism for campus community members to report at-home test results.
Reinstate contact tracing on campus and increase hours for the University Housing COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation Housing Team to include greater night and weekend availability.
Reinstate the campus COVID data dashboard, showing testing and vaccination rates.
Vaccination
Continue to offer free COVID and flu vaccinations to members of the campus community.
Increase vaccine clinic access for staff working second and third shifts.
Air Quality
Conduct studies and make reports on ventilation and filtration available to potential occupants of all campus spaces.
Improve ventilation and filtration in classrooms, living spaces, and office spaces.
Provide clear communication and effective education to the campus community about how to stop the spread of COVID as well as the risks of infection, reinfection, and long COVID.
Meet virtually to discuss the campus COVID response with representatives from our group, the UW COVID response team, and the Chancellor’s office.
Protections against COVID and other airborne pathogens are particularly important now. Converging threats of declines in masking, poor booster uptake, and the “tripledemic” (RSV, influenza, and COVID) coincide with students’ return from winter break. Currently, multiple COVID variants are circulating nationally, including the XBB.1.5 variant, which has rapidly increased since November. As current vaccine-only approaches do not stop viral spread, we can expect emergence of new variants now and in the future. We must follow a science-based, precautionary approach with effective multilayered protections to stop COVID transmission and reduce the harms of infection.
Allowing COVID to spread without effective mitigation means a lower quality of life, increased suffering, and lower life expectancy. COVID-19 killed over 235,000 people in the US in 2022, making it the third leading cause of death last year. We know COVID infections can also have deadly effects beyond the acute phase, such as heart attacks and strokes. Repeated infections, including those with mild symptoms, cause increasing organ system damage and increase the risk of developing long COVID. COVID is not going away without effective action.
According to the CDC, nearly one in five adults in the U.S. who had COVID-19 are still experiencing “Long COVID” symptoms (lasting more than 3 months after infection). Young people are experiencing long COVID at similar rates as other age groups, and they’re more likely to experience significant disruption in their daily activities. Fatigue, along with difficulty thinking and concentrating are common symptoms of Long COVID that can interfere with school and work, directly impeding the mission of the University.
UW–Madison plays an integral role within our broader community, thus mitigation efforts on campus can also have wider reaching positive benefits. COVID protections are a justice issue due to disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities, including stark racial disparities. An inadequate COVID response runs counter to UW’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Implementation of COVID protections provides additional advantages that go beyond COVID itself. Improving indoor air quality reduces allergens and pollutants in addition to reducing pathogens (COVID, influenza, RSV, and many others). Effective COVID mitigation strategies can increase work productivity by reducing sick time and improving access to campus activities for all people, including disabled people and those at high risk for COVID complications.
We appreciate the ongoing work of the UW COVID Response Team, and we urge UW–Madison to be proactive and protect the public health of the University and wider community.
Sincerely,