JOPLIN, Mo.& PITTSBURG, Kan.–Local university students and staff have returned from winter break, but their return raises concerns as Covid-19 cases have risen.

This week, Pittsburg State University tested about 90 students who exhibited Covid-19 symptoms, 50 tested positive.

“So every week on Wednesday we report the last seven days of data, and this past Wednesday we reported that about a little over 90 students had been tested, symptomatic students and approximately 50 and of those were positive at our student health center,” said Abigail Fern, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer at Pittsburg State University.

At Missouri Southern State University, they currently have 48 new Covid-19 cases according to their online covid-19 dashboard.

Due to the number of Covid cases, both schools are requiring masks in most of their buildings.

“The biggest reason why we got mask back was essentially, to try to provide as many activities and opportunities as possible,” said Brent Olson, Student Senate President at Missouri Southern.“So even though it might seem like we’re taking a step back with reenacting the masks, we actually have higher class capacities. We’re doing more events on campus and we’re doing a lot of other things that are beneficial.” 

Bringing back masks gives students a college experience while ensuring their safety.

“Before students came back, we implemented a mask mandate, so we know that that’s a good way to stop spread on our campus. we’ve also widely offered vaccinations over the last two semesters, so hopefully, we know that a large portion of our students are vaccinated,” said Fern.

She adds that at Pittsburg State, they already have many other covid safety procedures implemented on campus.

“More hybrid options for classes, moving classes to larger rooms, things like that. So we’ve done all the things that we can do. And what we decided to do was reinstate our mask mandate, knowing that we have a lot of students indoors this time of year.”

Both say, it’s the best way to keep campus open safely, while local Covid-19 numbers remain high.

Currently, Pittsburg State students are able to get vaccinated at the Bryant Student Health Center.

MSSU’s Wilcoxon Health Center is no longer carrying the vaccine due to low campus demand, and wide availability in the community.

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SOUTHEAST KANSAS, Kan.–Some Southeast Kansas school districts have made the decision to bring back masks.

Many school districts across Southeast Kansas have brought back masks, for at least the remainder of the week.

Two of those districts include Fort Scott and Iola.

“We’ve seen some resistance to the mask on both sides, you know, pro and con. but you know, my responsibility is the safety of our students and staff, and that was our number one and working with our health department,” said Fort Scott superintendent Ted Hessong.

Multiple school districts across Southeast Kansas are bringing back masks, at least for the remainder of the week.  

Those include the southeast school district, iola school district, fort scott school district, girard school district, and more.

Hessong,  says the descision to mask up wasn’t much of a choice, but what had to be done due to the district’s covid numbers.

“We have gating criteria that we, the board approved and came up with. we decided as a district, 2% positivity rate in a building. anything over that would put us back to mask required. We were not mask required before we reinstated the mask.”

Iola superintendent Stacy Fager says their district also follow the numbers, and decided to bring back the masks after some schools reached the four percent positivity threshold

“We have three elementary schools and two of our three elementary schools will be are in the process of wearing masks this week.”

Also back to masks this week is iola middle and high school. For fager, it’s the best way to keep kids in school, while keeping them safe.

“The main focus in conversations with our board of education, our instructors and our administration is we want to try to do everything we can to keep our buildings. open and keep our students in school. and with elevated cases, there comes a challenge”

Both superintendents say it’s the best way to ensure everyone’s safety during the current covid surge.

COPYRIGHT 2022 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.