The Faculty must keep students and staff regularly informed of positive COVID-19 cases
On September 8, Associate Dean Christopher Essert emailed the U of T Faculty of Law community to say that a 1L student tested positive for COVID-19.
At the time of the notice, the student was asymptomatic and in self-isolation. Following standardized procedures, the University’s Occupational Health and Safety team completed contact tracing and the Faculty performed a deep-clean of the affected areas.
Notably, Associate Dean Essert stated that “in accordance with established procedures,” emails notifying the law school community about positive COVID-19 cases will not be routinely sent by the Faculty. Instead, the University’s Occupational Health Nurse will only contact individuals who may have been in contact with the positive case. This decision has grave implications concerning informed decision-making, transparency, and public safety.
The Faculty recognizes the unusual circumstances of the 2020-2021 academic year and has made efforts to respect students’ wishes regarding their decision to attend class in-person or virtually. This approach empowers students by giving them the autonomy to choose what mode of instruction is in their best interest given their unique individual circumstances. However, by withholding information critical to students’ decision-making, the Faculty has seriously undermined the agency and autonomy of students.
In order to determine whether to attend in-person or online, students must have an understanding of the level of COVID-19 risk exposure. This risk tolerance varies between students and can depend upon factors such as being high-risk or living with high-risk individuals. In deciding whether the risk has exceeded one’s tolerance, it is imperative for students to be informed of the number of confirmed cases within the Faculty. It is undeniable that an awareness of the number of confirmed cases in one’s vicinity is a substantial factor in understanding one’s risk.
While it is fortunate that our first positive case was asymptomatic and identified quickly, an alternative scenario where multiple students are infected is certainly foreseeable. Displaying a tally of the number of individuals who tested positive in the Faculty is arguably the most informative statistic in risk calculation. This calculation would be integral for students and staff making their daily informed decision on how to attend school.
Abstaining from reporting positive cases lacks a convincing reason. Concerns of confidentiality are virtually non-existent since a mere tally lacks any identifiable information that can be linked to afflicted students or staff. While sharing these statistics may arouse fear or panic, as typical with public safety announcements, the need for transparency and informed participation of members affected by this issue is critical. Perhaps a reaction of fear to increasing cases in the Faculty is called for and is the appropriate reaction to this situation. Granted, the information collected from afflicted students and staff will be limited to some degree. Individuals who experience symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 may decide to self-isolate without revealing their private medical status to the University’s Occupational Health and Safety team, despite their obligation to do so. In this scenario, the data collected by the University, and by extension, the Faculty, will reflect an underestimation.
However, similar to other public agencies that face issues of under-reporting, having as much reliable information as possible is an unquestionably better alternative than having none. After all, individuals in the Faculty of Law community are competent enough to account for such limitations when making their decisions.
Editors’ note: This article was initially published in print on October 1. Assistant Dean Essert sent an email on October 2, emphasizing that communications from the law school will only be sent to members of the community who are determined, by FOB activity, to have been on campus at the relevant times. He added that those emails would be for information only, as a reminder of the importance of vigilance and self-monitoring for symptoms, and that should an individual be at an elevated risk of infection, they would be contacted by a contact tracer.
