Many UW-Madison students are accustomed to traveling home for the Thanksgiving holiday, but this year students have more obstacles to consider before they pack their bags.
As they near the end of a semester fraught with sacrifices and tough decisions — deciding whether or not to return to campus in the fall, practicing social distancing with friends or even contracting COVID-19 and quarantining — many students now face the difficult choice between spending Thanksgiving alone or potentially endangering their families, as they travel across the state or country from a campus where the rate of positive coronavirus tests is on the rise.
Beginning with the Thanksgiving recess, the UW will shift to all-virtual instruction for the remainder of the semester, part of the university’s effort to limit spread on and off campus. Students who travel over the break have been encouraged not to return to campus. The virus’ activity has already been rising on campus for several weeks, with a seven-day average surpassing 50 new cases each day.
“We’ve been expressing concern for several weeks now, along with local and state leaders, about the continuing spike in COVID-19 cases in Dane County and throughout Wisconsin,” Director of News and Media Relations Meredith McGlone said of the ongoing spike in campus cases. “It is unfortunately not surprising that we are also seeing an increase in positivity rates on campus, although our rates continue to be below the surrounding community.”
A Nov. 11 email to the student body from Jake Baggott, the Executive Director of University Health Services, urged students to take COVID-19 prevention methods seriously citing that 7-day averages of positive COVID-19 test results on campus have “more than doubled” over the past two weeks.
“We need you to step up now, just as you’ve done before,” Baggott said in the email. “We know many of you plan to return home soon. You don’t want COVID to spoil those plans or infect your family members.”
For her part, UW-Madison junior Ellie Tumarkin has been getting tested for COVID-19 frequently and staying home as much as possible, but she is concerned with rising cases among university students and employees.
“I think that definitely people aren't following the guidelines and staying home, because I know some people who are less worried about COVID,” Tumarkin said. “But, it's just kind of tough because everyone has different situations that they're in. One person might not have to worry about it, but then they spread it to someone that does.”
Tumarkin lives just 15 minutes from campus in Waunakee, Wis., which has enabled her to travel home frequently this semester to visit her family. Her younger sister is considered an ‘at risk’ individual, so Tumarkin is used to getting regularly tested for COVID-19 before returning home.
“We try to get tested pretty regularly, and we are pretty good about quarantining and not going out unless we really have to,” Tumarkin said.
In preparation for Thanksgiving recess, she will continue to get tested for COVID-19 and practice social distancing — consistent with her actions throughout this semester.
Ben Krongard, a UW-Madison junior from San Diego, Calif., has decided to return for Thanksgiving and stay home through the end of the academic semester. Krongard wants to limit his travels this winter and decided that staying home to spend time with his family was the best option.
Krongard is concerned about the risk of spreading COVID to his family members as a result of travel, but his concerns about the potential spread are lessened by getting tested weekly and limiting his contact to a specific group of people.
“It’s definitely a little concerning to see numbers rising, but for me, I've been with the same circle of people the whole semester, and I don't plan on changing that in the next few weeks,” Krongard said. “I'm hoping that by doing that and just avoiding unnecessary meetings with anyone else that I could stay safe.”
Navigating the college experience amid a global pandemic has affected not only widespread negative effects on travelling plans, but also the mental health of students and their families. Not only do students have to worry about the amount of emails from different classes about due dates and assignments, but Tumarkin also says that these stresses come at the cost of not getting rewarded with in-person interactions.
“Just having to spend your whole day looking at a monitor can get really draining, and it gets really difficult to keep your motivation up and to keep following along with everything,” Tumarkin said. “It feels like you're doing a lot more work with less reward.”
For now, the university continues to express the urgency of safe practices in accordance with public health mandates and recommendations. On Nov. 9, UW-Madison addressed increasing positivity rates on campus by mandating COVID testing for all students living in Witte and Sellery residence halls.
“Protect yourself and your loved ones by limiting your out-of-home activity as much as possible for the next two and a half weeks,” said McGlone in an email addressing the importance of health and safety prior to travelling.
