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thursday, 02.04.21
New devices decontaminate campus spaces JOHN MCGOWAN reporter
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Facilities Management to use new methods of cleaning campus buildings. Some of these new methods come in the form of the CloroxPro Total 360 Electrostatic Sprayers and Backpacks — two cleaning devices that make the job much easier. The two products are essentially the same device in two different forms. The sprayers are capable of spraying disinfectant across a large area, but must be wheeled around, while the backpacks do a similar job in a more compact form. The sprayers work by applying an electric charge to the mist as it comes out, causing the atoms to repel each other and instead seek out other particles to stick to, like viruses. Superintendent of Building Services Jheri Riedel said the sprayers are able to get the job done much faster than the traditional way of wiping down the room. “It doesn’t require any wiping or anything of that sort. So, we could do a classroom that holds 90 students in five to seven minutes, whereas before that [it] could take, you know, 45 minutes to do by hand,” Riedel said. There are two sprayers on campus and eight backpacks. The two sprayers are kept in the Vadalabene Center and Korte Stadium, and are used to clean locker rooms and courts, while the backpacks are spread across several buildings on campus. Vice Chancellor for Administration Morris Taylor said the backpacks are convenient for smaller spaces. “The 360 Backpack is essentially the
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same thing except you put it on your back, and you can walk around with it. You can go up and down stairs easier, or if you have a seating arrangement like an auditorium type setting, you can just walk through and get all those surfaces rather than pulling the big 360 model on the floor,” Taylor said. While the devices are effective, Director of Facilities Management Craig Holan said they don’t entirely replace traditional cleaning. “It’s different than cleaning, because we’re also cleaning dirt and [non-vir u s e s and bacteria] … it’s a different f u n c tion,” H o l a n said. Riedel said the backpacks aren’t used in every classroom. “We’re not spraying every classroom, because not every classroom is being used. With the reduction of students physically on campus we don’t have to see SPRAYERS on page 2
BSW’s hold front line in pandemic KRISTINA JOHNSON reporter
Before campus was shut down in March 2020, building service workers began the thorough cleaning of buildings. Almost a year after the beginning of COVID-19, they continue their efforts to maintain cleanliness. Facilities Management at SIUE is in charge of construction, maintenance, transportation services and cleaning campus. After the pandemic began, it became more important for classrooms and frequently touched surfaces to be properly sanitized.
“What we do now, we did not do at this time last year,” Superintendent of Building Services Jheri Riedel said. “The pandemic changed pretty much … our procedures, the equipment that we use, chemicals that we use [and] our main focuses were highlighted differently than what used to be the norm.” For the 60 building service workers, there are three shifts throughout the day: day shift, evening shift and third shift. Third shift will soon be divided between the day and evening shifts. Riedel said at the beginning of each shift, workers are assigned a specific building they will be working in. The day shift cleans faculty
offices and public areas, evening shift cleans classrooms and third shift cleans other highly touched areas and works on other projects. Riedel said they had been fortunate enough to have access to proper personal protective equipment and chemicals that are strong enough to kill off the virus. “We were very lucky to have purchased two pieces of equipment that are called Clorox 360 and purchased 10 backpacks that are electrostatic,” Riedel said. “So what they do is they disperse the chemicals in a fine mist and then the chemical air-dries on any hard surface or anything it attaches to.” Building service worker Jim Gillentine works the evening shift from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. He said each building service worker bids on a campus building to work in during specific days and times. He said part of his daily tasks includes wiping down every surface that could have been touched throughout the day as well as making sure every classroom is stocked with masks and hand sanitizer. “We’re having to make sure everything is constantly sprayed down with the cleaner that they’ve provided to combat [COVID-19] … tables, the desks, everything,” Gillentine said. “[The backpack spraying] is done every day.” When campus closed after spring break, Riedel said building service workers didn’t have access to the equipment yet, so they started by cleaning everything by hand. Now that they have access to Clorox 360 and the backpacks, they are able to disperse the chemicals to more areas at a faster pace. “We have three different chemicals that we use to neutralize COVID-19 and anything else,” Riedel said. “The chemicals that we use are specific to COVID-19, they pretty much kill any virus that they come across. A couple of them are actually hospital grade.” see CLEANING on page 2
School health officials call for vigilance with new COVID-19 variant in Illinois DALTON BROWN copy editor
A new variant of COVID-19 was discovered in the Chicago area of Illinois; while school health officials say the variant hasn’t heavily impacted our area, they warned of the possible consequences if students don’t remain vigilant. Jerry Kruse, medical doctor and dean and provost of the SIU School of Medicine, said that even though Illinois has moved into less restrictive mitigations, this new variant means residents shouldn’t ease up on pandemic protocol. “The issue with the new variants is that oftentimes, they’re more infectious than the other ones, and that means that the av-
erage number of people who can be infected by one person might be a little bit higher,” Kruse said. “And so the message we’re getting out is to not let our guard down … we’ve moved back to a more liberal either tier or phase by the State of Illinois, and that kind of encourages people to get together or drop their guard down on their preventative measures — that’s the wrong thing to do right now.” According to Kruse, if proper precautions are not taken this flu season, it could lead to a surge in both COVID-19 and influenza. “We were fearing the dreaded combination of an influenza outbreak with COVID,” Kruse said. “Influenza season goes until the end of March, and if we let our guard down too much … and we get an influenza and COVID surge on March 15, watch out.”
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According to Riane Greenwalt, director of Health Services, the school’s testing response will remain the same for now, but may change with new information. “We’ll continue to do this randomized voluntary testing during the Spring,” Greenwalt said. “COVID has been fairly fluid, so while we say that today, if we found out new information tomorrow we would obviously adjust.” If a student tests positive, according to Greenwalt, they will still follow the school’s current guidelines of remaining in isolation for 10 days if they’re asymptomatic, or remain in isolation until their symptoms have subsided — but even if they test negative, Greenwalt says students should act like they’re about to test again. “While testing itself does not
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make you safe, the behavior of knowing that you’re going to test sometimes changes what you’ll do and makes you safe,” Greenwalt said. “So just because you’re negative today, if you turned around and didn’t wear a mask … you could test positive tomorrow.” The discovery of the new COVID variant in Illinois comes as the state enters Phase 1B of its Vaccine Administration Plan. SIU’s current vaccination rollout plan has already begun in a few areas like the School of Medicine and the School of Pharmacy — but according to Chancellor Randy Pembrook, the Illinois Board for Higher Education is still working with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office to make vaccines available to the larger campus community. “Right now, K-12 is included in the 1B stage,” Pembrook said.
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“In Illinois, higher education is not included in that 1B phase, but I think … if we could achieve that, then that would mean when students return home from college in April or May at the end of the semester, hopefully everyone will have been vaccinated so that we don’t have that bursting of the bubble effect of thousands and thousands of people going back to communities and possibly spreading it.” Lakesha Butler, a clinical professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, said the current vaccines in the area will still be effective against the new variant of the virus, citing a press release published by vaccine manufacturer Moderna. However, Butler said those who get vaccinated should
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see COVID on page 2