(WSVN) - Colleges and universities across South Florida are just weeks away from a full in-person semester, but the rise in COVID-19 cases is causing campus concerns.
With the ever-changing guidance from federal and state officials, colleges and universities are having to pivot as they gear up for the upcoming fall semester.
Presidents of South Florida colleges and universities met virtually with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to discuss COVID, as campuses prepare for a return of students.
“We have a lot of new factors, and we’re all trying to navigate the best we can,” Levine Cava said.
The beginning of this school year mirrors the last as Florida reports a daily high in coronavirus cases not seen since the start of the pandemic. Only this time around, the delta variant is posing new concerns.
“We are concerned about the spread crossover as well, so we are very, very eager to reduce the spread and we’re looking at every possible option,” Levine Cava said.
With Florida gov. Ron DeDantis limiting the ability of local officials to enforce restrictions like masks and vaccines, some schools say their hands are tied.
“I’m strictly speaking from a technical, political point of view. Yes, I would mandate vaccines. We do that for many, many other diseases. That’s the reason why there is no smallpox in the world. It’s the reason why we don’t have polio,” said UM President Julio Frenk.
Now, the University of Miami is working on other ways to provide protections.
“We are creating incentives. We are thinking about appropriate rewards for students who get the vaccine very much keeping with the university culture, and we are requiring students who choose not to get vaccinated to be tested once a week,” Frenk said.
College and university officials are anxious.
While the mayor’s office said more people in Miami-Dade have been vaccinated against covid than any other county in the state, numbers are lagging among young people who populate the county’s college campuses.
As 7News has reported, it’s those unvaccinated younger folks who are increasingly ending up sick in hospitals.
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