COVID & General Illness Policy

Last updated: August 31, 2024

If you use or modify this statement, please credit: Dr. Vyshali Manivannan, Dept. of English, Writing, and Cultural Studies, Pace University – Pleasantville (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

COVID Right Now

Note: COVID shots targeting the JN.1 (and previous) strains have received emergency FDA approval and are rolling out as of now (8/31/24).

The federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency in May 2023. Other political and politicized institutions and mass media have since dismissed the pandemic, reframing illness, disablement, and death as ordinary aspects of life that we have to get used to. In keeping with this message, Pace University removed its “Return to Campus” page, where COVID updates and regulations were once posted. However, the U.S. has continued to experience successive waves of high community transmission, as indicated by wastewater surveillance testing and reported by The People’s CDC. 

As we enter the fall semester, COVID-19 transmission is the highest it’s been since the winter surge. As of August 2, 2024, wastewater viral activity is either “High” or “Very High” in 44 states, according to wastewater surveillance (People’s CDC, 2024). 1 out of every 33 people in the U.S. is estimated to be infected with COVID. 1 out of 5 people who had COVID at least once will develop long COVID  within two years of illness (CDC). 18 million Americans currently have long COVID as of April 2024. 

COVID damages the immune system much like HIV, connective tissue, the cardiovascular system, the brain, and the lungs. If you’ve had COVID once, you have likely become susceptible to other illnesses (Jing, 2021). The more you get COVID, the more likely it is you’ll get a post-COVID condition.

Our healthcare system is increasingly strained by each wave of COVID and increasing numbers of patients with post-COVID conditions (“Long COVID”), resulting in a shortage of available hospital beds, longer wait times in the ER, longer wait times for doctor appointments, fewer sick days, and less sick pay. Other ramifications of unrestrained disease transmission include supply chain disruptions and medical supply shortages of painkillers, fever reducers, antibiotics, saline, and prescription drugs for diseases like ADHD, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes (as these drugs are now also being used to treat post-COVID conditions). As a barometer for disease severity and health outcomes, life insurance companies are rejecting applications from patients with confirmed post-COVID syndromes and have required additional testing and/or higher premiums for people who have had COVID at least once.

We are being forced to accept a future where we can reasonably expect that doing anything fun—going to restaurants, bars, or parties, hanging out with friends, or traveling—will make us sick. This is supposed to be okay, even though COVID will affect our quality of life and lifespan. 

And yet, face coverings—including N95s, surgical masks, scarves, and Halloween masks—have recently been banned in Nassau County in an overly broad law that passed this month. A similar resolution was recently proposed in New York City.

You may not know all or any of this, and given political statements and media coverage, that’s to be expected. This policy statement exists to:

  1. Provide you with information about COVID and disease-prevention resources that you may not have easy access to, and 
  2. Outline how COVID and other illnesses will be handled in our class, since both COVID and Long COVID will impact your ability to participate, understand the material, and perform well.

Current COVID Variants & Other Diseases

COVID is an airborne disease, as the CDC, Homeland Security, and WHO have acknowledged. Asymptomatic patients are currently the highest vector of disease transmission. 

The latest “FLiRT” variants, KP.2, KP.3.1.1, KP.3, and LB.1, are highly contagious, better at evading the immune system, and more resistant to vaccines that have been administered to date. Updated vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax are expected to be released in this fall. (If you’re hesitant about receiving an mRNA vaccine, or can’t receive one for health reasons, you might want to wait for Novavax, which uses non-mRNA technology.)

The last batch of vaccines (2023-2024) aren’t very effective against current strains, underscoring the need for layers of protection (People’s CDC, 2024). These layers include: wearing good-quality, well-fitted (N95) masks, staying up-to-date with vaccines, and improving indoor ventilation. As with the flu, vaccination will reduce severe illness and the risk of sudden death but won’t protect you by itself. Get vaccinated and wear a mask.

For those who are under-insured or don’t have insurance for no-cost access to vaccines, the Bridge Access Program might be able to help.

Symptoms to watch out for with these variants include typical cold and allergy symptoms, such as a sore throat, a cough, fatigue, congestion, a runny nose, headache, muscle aches, fever or chills, loss of taste or smell, difficulty breathing, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Symptoms of older variants, like loss of smell and taste, hair loss, tooth loss, and sexual dysfunction, may also occur.

Antigen tests (home tests) also do not account for the latest COVID-19 strains. People often mistakenly believe that if they test negative for 1-2 days, they don’t have COVID. It may take up to 5 days of testing before you test positive on a rapid antigen test (if you test positive at all). 

Before you dismiss your symptoms as “just the flu,” check the CDC’s Flu Tracker to assess respiratory illness trends in your region. 

Be aware: you can catch COVID indoors and outdoors, especially at crowded, unmasked events or poorly ventilated spaces, and that asymptomatic cases are still contagious.

Because catching COVID has weakened people’s immune systems, there has been an unprecedented rise in other diseases as well, including Strep A (scarlet fever), adult RSV, fungal infections, measles (even in fully immunized adults who have had COVID), and tuberculosis on college campuses, K-12 schools, and workplaces. The medical community also anticipates higher rates of early Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, including in college-aged people, and has linked a rise in unusual cancers to COVID.

Additionally, H5 bird flu has impacted birds, cows, cats and dogs, and humans, to the point where epidemiologists forecast human-to-human transmission and the CDC has warned of the possibility of a bird flu pandemic. In early August 2024, the WHO declared mpox a global health emergency and added mpox, bird flu, and the black plague to its pandemic watchlist (Newey, 2024). Mosquito-borne viruses have also been on the rise in New York, particularly West Nile Virus, which peaks in late August and September. A less common but deadlier disease, Eastern equine encephalitis, is also on the rise. New York City sprayed neighborhoods to attempt to control the mosquito population, and the CDC recommends minimizing your time outdoors, wearing insect repellent with DEET and loose-fitting long sleeves and pants, keeping the windows closed, and pouring out any standing water outside. Symptoms of both diseases begin within 3 days to 2 weeks of the original bite and include fever, headache, fatigue, and nausea, with later stages causing confusion and altered mental states (NBC, 2024). There is no treatment for either of these diseases.

It is possible to contract any of these illnesses and suffer debilitating or deadly consequences even when you have no underlying medical conditions.

Institutions and politicians tell the public not to mask or quarantine when sick but do not hold themselves to the same standard. The film and television and fashion industries still rigidly observe original COVID protocols, with PPE, multiple daily COVID tests, and social distancing as much as possible. Politicians make use of their access to vaccines, medications, and PPE. CDC personnel use respirators with regards to COVID, mpox, and bird flu yet contradictorily tells us that masks are useless.

The bottom line is this: Politicians, institutional leaders, and politicians are privately protecting themselves from disease while publicly supporting contemporary politicized, anti-science narratives around illness. A COVID-cautious protocol will protect both you and your community from COVID and other infections and reduce your risk of developing a post-COVID syndrome (or infecting and disabling someone else).

What Is Long COVID?

“Long COVID” refers to any post-viral condition that stems from having had COVID. Symptoms of post-COVID conditions can include: sudden death, particularly by cardiac arrest; stroke; post-exertional malaise (disabling exhaustion after doing anything); unexplained pain and fatigue; brain fog; cognitive, mobility, and speech impairments; permanent loss of smell and taste; loss of hair and teeth; benign facial tumors; difficulty breathing; POTS and dysautonomia; incontinence; erectile dysfunction; discolored extremities; black hairy tongue; early Alzheimer’s; cancers; and more. Many formerly nondisabled Long COVID patients use a wheelchair, can’t leave their house or bed, require caregivers, and/or had to quit school or their job and go on SSDI. 

Take the appropriate precautions—you do not want these illnesses! If you choose not to take precautions against COVID, this increases your odds of getting sick, reducing your ability to complete the course well and/or in a timely fashion. 

What to Buy (and Where)

Masks are useful for preventing all respiratory illnesses and protecting against lung damage from wildfire smoke and other pollutants. You can check the Air Quality Index (AQI) using an Aranet monitor or at IQAir.

PPE can be expensive. Since the public health emergency ended, COVID tests are no longer free or fully covered by insurance plans. You may be able to access tests at low-cost through the “Express Testing” PCR program in New York City. 

A good COVID/illness/air pollution kit for school includes the following:

If you’re on a budget, disposable N95 masks can be reused if you follow these steps, but this may reduce effectiveness.

Course Illness Policy

As soon as you feel symptomatic (even if you suspect it’s a cold or allergies), get tested. The average length of time for contagiousness is 9 days after symptom onset, and breakthrough infections can occur regardless of vaccination status. It’s possible to become reinfected with COVID within two weeks of having had it, and it’s possible to become reinfected with a variant you’ve previously been infected with.

If you test positive, prioritize your recovery and don’t attend class. I trust you to reach out to me when you are well enough to resume participating, and we’ll get you caught up then. No one learns well while sick, anyway.

If you can, quarantine until you test negative on a PCR test. (You can still access Pace’s Fall 2022 “How to Make a Quarantine and Housing Plan,” if it’s useful to you.) Try to limit your physical, cognitive, and emotional activity as much as possible for 4-6 weeks after you get COVID to reduce your risk of developing a permanent post-COVID condition (ME Action).

As a high-risk disabled individual myself, if I become sick, especially with COVID or another serious illness, I’ll need to aggressively rest. You’ll have the materials on Classes—texts, videos, other resources—and each other on Discord to help you continue with your learning. I’ll rejoin when I’m well enough.

I don’t want any of us risking our well-being for this class, but I can only overextend myself so much—meaning I can’t give unlimited extensions if everyone keeps getting sick. The more you reduce your risk of getting sick, the more likely we are to finish the course without significant interruptions to course continuity and your learning. And if you do get sick, communicate with me early so we can make a plan to make a plan when you’re better.

Remember: we are in this together, so communal care, mutual aid, and compassion will get us through!