AMES, Iowa – Several hundred students and staff members are likely back on campus after staging a sickout at Iowa’s two biggest universities.
The group Iowa Student Action organized the sickout Tuesday at the University of Iowa and Iowa State university in protest of in-person classes.
Participants are demanding all online learning to battle the spread of COVID-19. Both universities were pegged nationally as COVID-19 hot spots after students returned to campus last month.
Virus positivity rates in Story and Johnson counties, which are home to the two schools, have since dropped. After both peaked well above 20 percent, Story and Johnson counties have positivity rates under 11 percent (10.8 percent - Story County, 10.4 percent - Johnson County).
Iowa State University has reported 112 new cases among students and staff members in the past week, for a positivity rate of 15.5 percent and a total of 1,012 cases. The University of Iowa had 76 new cases as of September 11th, for a total of 1,831.
(Image from Iowa Student Action)