BLACKSBBURG, Va – With the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Montgomery County, Virginia Tech students want their concerns heard by school officials.
University students got the chance to ask President Tim Sands questions about the current state of the coronavirus and its effect on the community on Friday.
The university said it will start ramping up testing efforts over the next week but not all students are happy with how things have been since the semester started three weeks ago.
Sands and other school officials took questions from students on testing efforts, on-campus isolation and what it would take for the university to transfer to online classes. However, Sands said switching to online classes this year may not be the most beneficial option for students and their families.
Some students expressed concerns about the impact of the university community on the town of Blacksburg with the increase in positive cases.
“The failure to control COVID-19 at Virginia Tech is a failure to the entire Blacksburg community and surrounding area. And thereby, it defies the principles of Ut Prosim if we don’t do a good job, and my disappointment is that off-campus students were not required to get tested,” said student Margaret Nagai.
Administrators said the school will start doing more than 600 coronavirus tests daily next week.
As for the fate of the spring semester, President Sands is expecting students to follow the model currently in place.