Frederica Freyberg:

School, both virtual and in person, is back in session for the UW System this week. System President Tommy Thompson said a dashboard that accounts for details on COVID-19 on all campuses is forthcoming. UW-Madison’s dashboard is up and running and gets updated each day. As of this afternoon, Madison reports 440 students are COVID-19 positive. There are 22 UW staff members who are positive for the virus. Testing began late last month with the arrival of students to campus. “Here & Now” Reporter Trevor Keller talked with some of them.

Trevor Keller:

It’s the first week of the fall semester at UW-Madison and signs point to plenty of new precautions.

Megan Paquette:

Anytime we’re out of our room, we have to wear masks. I’m always washing my hands. We only are allowed four people in a room.

Trevor Keller:

The university “Smart ReStart” program hopes to curb large gathering by limiting access to dorms and dining areas.

Elizabeth Rakowski:

From what I’ve seen, everyone has been wearing masks, taking precautions, so I’m not really worried.

Trevor Keller:

The plan is to hold a mix of virtual and in-person classes through Thanksgiving.

Rebecca Blank:

It is deeply important for our students where there are small classes that we can safely hold to engage in that type of face-to-face discussion with faculty and with each other.

Trevor Keller:

Students living on campus will be tested at least once every two weeks. The question is will these precautions work?

Woman:

What do we want?

Crowd:

A moral restart.

Trevor Keller:

Not everyone thinks so. A group of faculty and staff held a rally in mid-August calling for a moral restart with all-virtual learning.

Cv Vitolo-Haddad:

There are many classes that are planning to be held in person that don’t need to be. There are workers who have concerns about being forced to — in order to keep their jobs, put their lives at risk, especially workers who are immunocompromised but also all of us. We really don’t know what the long-term consequences of COVID are.

Trevor Keller:

How many cases will it take to go all virtual? Officials won’t say.

Lori Reesor:

There’s no magic number. We do expect that there are going to be more positive tests when we start surveying and testing thousands of students.

Trevor Keller:

The university says they’ll evaluate case numbers daily and make decisions accordingly. No matter what happens, one thing certain to be on the syllabus this semester is an emphasis on safety.

Elizabeth Rakowski:

I was really looking forward to football games and all of that stuff but maybe in the spring.

Trevor Keller:

Reporting in Madison for “Here & Now,” I’m Trevor Keller.

Frederica Freyberg:

As we mentioned earlier, UW System President Tommy Thompson said a system-wide dashboard on COVID-19 data will be available soon.