Students and staff are nearing three weeks inside classrooms at Canadian Valley Technology Center’s three area campuses. Some adjustments have been necessary since students were last on campus in mid-March.
Open doors have resulted in extra safety precautions. School officials are following guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC), which recommends facial coverings, safe distancing of six feet and periodic hand washing as the best means of preventing spread of the highly contagious virus.
A campus mask mandate was issued by CV Tech’s board of education in July in hopes of staving off another school shutdown. In March, the Oklahoma Board of Education suspended all in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year.
CV Tech officials adapted by offering online instruction at that time but re-opened to students this school year with additional safety protocols in place on advisement of both the CDC and the Oklahoma Department of Health.
Coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19, is linked to several symptoms, among them fever, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell and sore throat.
There is currently no cure for Covid-19. Pharmaceutical research is ongoing in hopes of producing a vaccine. Nationwide, lab-confirmed cases have surpassed 5.8 million. The mortality rate of those infected is just over 3 percent. By comparison, the mortality rate in Oklahoma is less than half the national average. Still, new cases spiked both locally and nationally in July before trending downward in August.
Students and staff at CV Tech are acting to stop the spread. Yukon home school senior Alliston Jessup, who is enrolled in Pre-Engineering at CV Tech, thinks safety precautions are working.
“The virus is definitely a concern for me but also for people around me who are more at risk,” she said. “I do think masks work.”
Classmate Kaden Hamner, a junior at Yukon High School, agrees.
“I think what we’re doing is all right,” he said. “Go by the safety rules. Wear a mask, do more distancing. Definitely use hand sanitizer.”
Mary Beth Carver, a 30-year instructor at CV Tech’s Chickasha Campus, said students in her Early Care and Education classes are doing great with masks and social distancing.
“Handwashing has always been a priority, but now we are going at it with full force, every day,” she said.
“I remind students to sanitize their work spaces the areas around them.”
Jaime Popp, R.N., a Health Careers instructor at CV Tech’s Cowan Campus in Yukon, said infection control is nothing new but COVID-19 is different. She believes in-person education is important but carries risks.
“It is critical that we offer our technical education so we can address the shortage of health care workers,” she said.
CV Tech remains closed to the public in order to protect students and staff. Basic services, such as those provided by assessment, counselors and financial aid are available by appointment by calling: Chickasha (405) 224-7220; Cowan (405) 345-3333; and El Reno (405) 262-2629.
COVID-19 STATISTICS
Updated Aug. 30
NATIONWIDE
* 5.93 million total cases
* 2.15 million recovered
* 3.5 million active cases
* 182,149 deaths (3.1% mortality rate)
Source: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
OKLAHOMA
* 58,020 total cases
* 48,933 recovered
* 8,288 active cases
* 799 deaths (1.4% mortality rate)
Source: Oklahoma Department of Health
CV TECH DISTRICT AREA
Canadian County
* 1,518 total cases (2.6% cases statewide)
* 1,306 recovered
* 11 deaths (0.8% mortality rate)
Grady County
* 530 cases total cases (0.9% cases statewide)
* 469 recovered
* 7 deaths (1.4% mortality rate)
Source: Oklahoma Department of Health
