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According to a new poll from the latest Axios/College Reaction poll, more than half of college students said they are willing to return to in-person classes even if there is not a coronavirus vaccine by the fall.
The news comes as more and more states are beginning to open in phases.
However, a number of schools have also said that they would not reopen campuses without a vaccine in place while also announcing they have already canceled classes for the fall semester.
Highlights from the survey include:
- 65 percent said they would attend in-person classes.
- 31 percent said they would only attend virtually.
- 4 percent say they would withdraw from school.
Kristina Johnson, chancellor of the 64-campus SUNY system, recently said that the school system will be creating its own taskforce to determine proper procedures to reopen campuses, so it will be interesting to see if other school systems decide to follow suit.
“We understand that resuming face-to-face instruction cannot occur in a vacuum; each of our campuses is a complex ecosystem with regular engagement with their respective surrounding communities,” she said, according to the Stony Brook University News.
“The Task Force is working collaboratively with the Governor Advisory Group to develop plans and a checklist of criteria that must be met before on-campus learning resumes.”
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 80,500 deaths in the United States and more than 1 million confirmed cases — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
