CHICO STATE RESUMES IN-PERSON CLASSES
It was a busy day Monday as Chico State returned to in-person spring classes.
Seventy percent of classes are in-person, according to the Chico State pandemic management team.
Thalia Smith, a first-year animal science major, enjoyed the sunshine on a bench near the performing arts center Monday.
“I’m excited to be here, but I think we should have gone remote for the first two weeks,” Smith said. “But I’m excited to be back in person.”
Smith was participating in online classes before the university opened back up. She said her classes Monday were wellattended and one of her professors reminded everyone to wear masks and had the class moved to a bigger classroom so the students could sit six feet apart.
Criminal justice major Vicky Nichols is also a Chico State
bookstore employee. She said the store has been very busy.
“Everyone is feeling positive and excited about the semester,” Nichols said. “I’m excited; I like in person classes. I’m more focused.”
Butte County residents can receive COVID-19 tests at the public testing site at Whitney Hall at Chico State. However, there is now a third party vendor testing site at Colusa Hall for Chico State employees and students, which is open from noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and return results within 48 hours, according to pandemic management team director Mike Guzzi.
The public testing site at Whitney Hall will remain available seven days a week for the entire community from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The university is working with students (both those who live on and off-campus) who test positive to help them safely isolate and get tested at the end of their isolation period, Guzzi said.
“We have updated information from the Centers for Disease Control (and Prevention) and the California Department of Public Health and are following guidelines. The quarantine amount of time has been changed. If on day five, you test negative, you can come out of isolation,” Guzzi said.
There is a Chico State CO
VID-19 hotline that students or employees can call with COVID-19 related questions. If a person tests positive, that person has to isolate. The number for the hotline is 898-2222 and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If calling after hours, leave a message and the staff will return calls the next morning.
Medical professionals
are providing rapid antigen tests at Colusa Hall. The rapid tests are for those wanting to get out of isolation after day five, but the polymerase chain reaction test is more reliable and sensitive, Guzzi said.
“People shouldn’t worry that the results will take forever to come in,” Guzzi said. “The 48-hour test is showing that.”
Contact tracing is performed to alert people that may have come in contact with a positive person..
In order to look up the university’s case numbers,
check the Chico State COVID-19 case dashboard that is updated twice a week. The website is located at https://www.csuchico.edu/ coronavirus/current-cases. shtml.
Guzzi, who teaches civil engineering classes, always reminds his students to wear masks and receive the COVID-19 booster shot and informs them about the hotline. He says students will email him with questions about isolation and other questions, and he directs them to call the hotline.