MUNCIE, Ind.— (NewsLink) It’s been two weeks since students have returned to campus from spring break and two weeks since students have been on campus without a mask mandate. Some were expecting to see a spike in COVID-19 cases because of the recent high volume of travel and campus being maskless, but the data says otherwise.

Ball State’s Spring 2022 COVID-19 dashboard has reported only one positive case in the past 24 hours, and a graph of cases this semester shows that there has been a massive decrease in positive cases since January. Even though many students have opted not to wear masks, the numbers remain low.

“I thought I would see increases but I haven’t,” said freshman Sydnee Long. 

She and other Ball State students were surprised to see that COVID-19 numbers have remained low since returning to campus.

However, some students continue to keep their masks up to keep themselves safe. Senior Tara Steinhilver is one of those students.

“I’m mixed on how to feel about it because on campus I feel like it’s a lot of people who I’ve been mingling with and I don’t know where they’ve been especially because it was just spring break,” said Steinhilver. 

She says she continues to wear her masks around campus but chooses to take it off in her classes.

“It’s the same three people I’m around all the time. If I’m going to get sick from them, I’m going to get sick from them,” said Steinhilver.

However, both Steinhilver and Long mentioned that they’ve noticed students getting sick. 

“I don’t know if it’s a cold or allergies or what, but I’m glad it’s not COVID,” said Long.

Around two years ago, students were sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic that completely changed campus life, but now masks off and case numbers low, students are hopeful for a return to normal.

Contact Madeline Kerr with comments at makerr@bsu.edu.

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