Here’s how FIU is planning to protect its community from COVID-19 in fall semester

Florida International University unveiled on Friday a draft of its plan to reopen this fall, finally giving its students, faculty and staff an idea of what the future holds, but a lot of questions remain unanswered.

The public university released a 36-page document with guidelines outlining three phases in the plan called “Panthers Protecting Panthers” ahead of two looming deadlines.

FIU, like the other 11 state universities, must submit its plan by June 12 to the Florida Board of Governors, which will examine it in a meeting June 23. But before that, the university must get its own Board of Trustees to sign off on it in early June.

The Herald submitted a public records request to FIU on Tuesday seeking the university’s plans for reopening, but did not receive anything prior to Friday’s announcement.

The initial plan includes measures like asking vulnerable people to stay home, maximizing cleaning, mandating social distancing, requiring facial coverings, recommending a daily personal screening test through a mobile app developed by the university, isolating positive COVID-19 cases and tracing the contacts of those who contract the virus.

But it does not include asking its community members to get tested before returning to campus.

FIU Provost Kenneth Furton said in an interview Friday afternoon the school is planning to ask people to get tested later if they develop symptoms.

“The idea is rather than having large testing at the beginning of the semester, having continuous testing based on the self-screening going on,” he said.

Missing details

The school has been working on its strategy since at least April 18 when Javier I. Marques, the vice president for operations and safety and the chief of staff, created the Campus/Site Repopulating Task Force, which includes about 25 people, including the police chief and the chair of the Faculty Senate.

The task force created the plan with the help of four subcommittees. But it still hasn’t figured out how it will finance the measures it has deemed necessary to return to in-person learning and work settings.

For instance, Furton said, it is unclear if the school will provide masks, or ask students, faculty and staff to find their own. The university might distribute some free of charge at first, he said, and then stop.

The school hasn’t figured out who will pay for the tests, either, but Furton said FIU “wouldn’t be forcing anyone to pay for their own test.”

The university might develop its own tests or work with Miami-Dade County. It will rely on the local Department of Health to investigate the contact tracing.

The task force hasn’t finalized some of the procedures required, either. FIU does not know where it will house those who test positive for the respiratory illness and live on campus.

It doesn’t quite know how it will enforce social distancing. The administration is evaluating each of its hundreds of rooms to rearrange seating, stagger work shifts and mark six-foot spaces.

It is considering asking students to take turns. For instance, for a class held Monday, Wednesday and Friday, only a third of the students enrolled could go to the classroom each day. It is also considering entrance and exit checks for larger rooms.

“The details are yet to be worked out.” Furton said. “Right now we’re just looking at the broader framework.”

What are the three phases?

The university will gradually increase the number of people who visit its campuses.

Currently, about 370 students are staying in the dorms, which are operating at about 10% capacity, Furton said. President Mark Rosenberg said in March about 18% of the university’s workers had been deemed essential to continue working on the facilities.

But as the fall comes, FIU will allow more and more to join.

FIU will enter Phase 1 when the state Department of Health registers a 14-day downward trajectory of positive COVID-19 cases, and when the government increases testing and contract tracing.

Phase 2 will begin when the DOH indicates a “sustainable” 14-day downward trajectory of new cases per day, and the number of new cases and percentage of positive COVID-19 tests fall to the single digits in Southeast Florida (Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties).

Phase 3 will begin when the DOH announces little to no community spread and no evidence of a resurgence of cases in Southeast Florida.