Loyalist College taking global COVID-19 threat seriously

A sign outside of the student health centre at Loyalist College lets students know what to watch out for to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus. Photo by Sarah Cooke, QNet News

By Sarah Cooke

BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College continues to closely monitor the coronavirus situation and is developing action plans should they be required, according to an email sent to students Wednesday morning from president and chief executive officer Ann Marie Vaughan.

The email stresses that public-health officials say the risk is low in Ontario and in this region, and that all college activities are continuing as normal.

The college has increased the number of hand-sanitizer stations and has a good stock of critical products such as wipes, replacement hand sanitizer solution, masks, gloves and soap, it says. 

Fred Pollitt, the executive director of student life and leadership at Loyalist, said that the college has been preparing since January. 

“We’ve learned a lot from previous health emergencies, especially SARS,” Pollitt told QNet News Wednesday. “What you try to do is take everything very seriously – get on it as soon ass possible.” 

The first thing that was done as to order sanitizing supplies, especially for the student health centre and the custodial service, he said. 

“What you find later on is a lot of these things are no longer available because everyone else is ordering. So we got our orders in early. We’ve got lots of supplies in to the health centre,” Pollitt said. 

Asked what the college would do if there were an outbreak in the residences, Pollitt replied that a plan was being developed in conjunction with the local public-health agency. 

“There is a large number of students living on campus, so it is a major concern to us. We met with the residence manager earlier this week and we’re putting those protocols in place.” 

The email from Vaughan directs students with flu-like or cold symptoms that persist to wear a face mask and contact their health-care provider. Students with those symptoms who are on campus should stay where they are and phone the student health centre, it says.

The email includes details advice on staying healthy and protecting yourself, including staying home if you’re sick, washing your hands frequently, getting the flu vaccine, coughing and sneezing into your elbow instead of your hand, and avoiding touching your face.

“This is a continual process of educating our student and college population,” according to Pollitt. 

Loyalist has cancelled all college-sanctioned employee and student travel for destinations that have been identified by the federal government as affected by COVID-19, according to Vaughan’s email.

It says the college is well positioned to institute further measures, if necessary, and has a pandemic plan in place.

Lisa Lynn, occupational health and safety co-ordinator at Loyalist, said the pandemic plan was developed in response to the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. 

“It’s very broad,” said Lynn. “Bits and pieces would be put into place by need. As with everything related to COVID-19, we’re taking our direction from public health agencies.” 

The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic Wednesday.