Source : Campus Crew
Due to the increase in positive Covid-19 cases that occurred at Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, the even semester lectures for the 2022 academic year, which were originally planned to be held offline, had to be canceled. To prevent a spike in cases, UMS took a policy to carry out online lectures again for the first 3 meetings. Then for the implementation of the next lecture, it will be reviewed by looking at cases of Covid-19 development.
The head of the UMS Covid-19 group, Prof. Dr. dr. EM Sutrisna, M.Kes said that until today, February 24, 2022, 16 people from the UMS academic community were confirmed to be positive for the new Covid-19 variant / Omicron and isolated at the UMS guest house. The sixteen people mostly came from students with mild symptoms—cough and flu. Several lecturers were also exposed, but most were self-isolating at home.
The infrastructure facilities at UMS guest house to support isolation are also very adequate, "the daily activities are sufficient, the logistics are also sufficient because the guesthouse provides food and drink. So, indeed, the students who were exposed only focused on recovering their health," said Sutrisna (02/ 24/ 2022).
Source : Kenya Nurrin Khasanah (Civil Engineering' 21)
In addition, to support the offline learning process, UMS has also implemented a booster vaccine for Sinovac and Astrazeneca on February 24, 2022. In collaboration with the Sukoharjo City Health Office, UMS has provided 1200 doses of vaccine targeting UMS lecturers, staff, and students. The vaccination took place at the UMS Edutorium and recorded that 1,180 participants had registered.
Although the graph of positive Covid-19 cases at UMS still tends to be high, Prof. Dr. dr. EM Sutrisna, M.Kes hoped and believed that in early March the cases will have dropped because indeed the Covid-19 case at the national level is also at a high level.
"The solution to prevent a spike in cases is still implement 5 M, we also hope that students in online learning are really online, and WFH means that lecturers are really at home, they don't go out to holiday, because it turns out that most of the exposures are from outside, added Sutrisna."
Azizah Azzahra, a 2020 PGSD student also shared her opinion regarding offline lectures that had to be postponed. According to her, the online learning is appropriate considering the increasing spread of Omicron in Solo Raya.
"But behind it, there must be pluses and minuses. The plus side is that the implementation of lectures can be carried out anywhere, and the development of studies is quite good because of the wider range of reference sources. Students can also save pocket money. For the minus itself, there is limited access to discuss with friends during group work and sometimes the quality of the network in different places is one of the obstacles, he said."
She hoped that offline lectures can be implemented soon, even though it's gradually, but this must also be done with some careful considerations so that the spread of Covid-19 does not spike again and is implemented with strict health protocols.
Writer: Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education' 19) & Kenya Nurrin Khasanah (Civil Engineering' 21)
Editor: Ayu Ukhti Muslimah (English Education' 19)
Comments