Muskingum University Ready to Tackle H1N1 Virus

The number of H1N1, or swine flu, cases at colleges and universities across the country is rising. It has these institutions preparing this year for what could be a possible outbreak.

While Muskingum University, in New Concord, has yet to report an H1N1 case on campus, WHIZ’s Emily Baird shows us why the Dean of Students says it has the university preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Bass, says the university has had many meetings-before classes started a few weeks ago-concerning the H1N1 virus. She says the university’s main goal is to try to educate students and faculty about how to fight the spread of the H1N1 virus.

“Teaching people to no longer sneeze in you hand but sneeze in your sleeve, or now, sneeze sown your shirt is a little bit different than what most students have heard all their lives, ” says Bass.

The university is telling students to take care of themselves also by getting enough sleep, eating right, washing their hands, and not sharing foods or drinks with others.

The students on campus we talked to say they’re not afraid of the H1N1 virus.

“I’m not, just because I know a lot of people make a big deal about it, and I think it’s made up more than it is, ” says Freshman Amanda Cecil.

“I’m not. The people around here do a really good job of making sure everybody’s safety is contained as a whole, ” says Senior Joe Fisher.

In fact, to combat the spread of the H1N1 virus, you’ll find something different in most of the buildings around campus.

“We have sanitizer all over campus that they can us when they go into the dining hall, or when they go into an academic building or an office, ” says Bass.

Because students share livings spaces and bathrooms with each other in dormitories, Bass says the janitorial staff has different cleaning instructions.

“We’ve set up a different protocol for cleaning and making sure that we’re wiping down more surfaces than maybe we would have in the past. You don’t think about, in the past, wiping necessarily every door knob you walk by, ” says Bass.

However, what if a case of the H1N1 virus does appear on campus? Bass says the university has plans to tackle that too.

“Obviously, our preference would be the student would try and go home. A lot of our students do live within drivable distance, and most of them will want to be with their parents anyway, ” says Bass.

Yet, if a student decides to stay on campus, Bass says that student will be put in isolation. She says the university is working with its kitchen staff to have meals delivered to the infected student. The university also is asking students with the H1N1 virus not to attend classes or other events. And bass says if the infected student has a roommate, that roommate will get to choose if he or she wants to move out.

Bass says when the H1N1 virus vaccinations do become available, the university has been told it will receive them to give out on campus.

She says the university’s Wellness Center already has seasonal flu shots available for October.