The VolanTe

Volume 147, No. 12 January 25 , 2023 www.volanteonline.com

Al Neuharth Media Center 555 N. Dakota St. University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD 57069

Adviser Tim Schreiner

Mission statement

The Volante covers issues relevant and interesting to USD students. Faculty, staff and community members are welcome readers, but the newspaper is written and presented for a diverse community of students from the students’ point of view. The paper should provide a variety of information, entertainment and educational opportunities for the readers. The Volante encourages everyone to write letters to the editor.

The Volante wishes to be viewed by students as respectable, objective, accurate, fair and trustworthy. If you have comments, concerns or questions, please contact The Volante at 677-5494.

The Volante is distributed Wednesdays during the academic year free of charge locally with the cost of $1 for each additional copy. One year subscription rates are $40, which solely covers the mailing costs.

The Volante does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any production service advertised in this paper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser.

The Volante disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Volante reserves the right to refuse any advertising.

hospitalizations statewide, with no reported cases in Clay County at this time.

The CDC report states that XBB.1.5 accounts for 18.8% of COVID-19 cases in Health and Human Services Region 8, which includes South Dakota and other western states such as North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. The novel variant in Region 1 accounts for around 86.8% of cases, which includes states such as New York and New Jersey.

“COVID-19 is beginning to become endemic, it’s here at the background level for the foreseeable future,” head of USD’s COVID-19 management team Kevin O’Kelley said.

The lack of testing makes the virus harder to track, but it has now become less of an immediate issue, O’Kelley said. Currently, there are no reported cases on the USD campus.

The USD COVID-19 management team is currently disbanded, but measures are still in place should campus see a spike in cases. O’Kelley is on standby if his role as head of the department is needed in the future. As of now, he is working as vice president of Research Compliance for the university.

“We are concerned. We still encourage selftesting, those that are sick to remain home and to get vaccinated for influenza and COVID-19,” O’Kelley said.

If in doubt, O’Kelley recommends referencing the CDC guidelines. Currently, at home COVID-19 test kits are available for free in the MUC, North Complex, Slagle Hall, Lee Medicine 101 and Student Health Services.

“Humans are very adaptable and we’ve dealt with the pandemic as a team,” O’Kelley said.