I, as well as many of my peers, feel that the new changes to the Health and Safety Guidelines are lackluster, irresponsible, and fail to properly address the surge of new Covid cases in our community. While Connecticut and Nationwide positivity rates reach record numbers, Hopkins should not be back in person as laid out on the website. Considering the lack of proper distancing, scarcity of reliable testing, and the infectiousness of the Omicron variant, students will get sick on the Hopkins campus, and will spread Covid to their own families and communities. We cannot be expected to accept this as fact, especially considering many of us are in close contact with vulnerable individuals who are at risk for severe illness. We know Hopkins wants what is best for their students and is committed to in person learning. There is no question that students learn better in a classroom than online, but there is currently no practical way for this to happen safely. Not only this, but Hopkins currently has no option for students who have been infected, or do not feel safe on campus, to learn virtually. Many of us have parents, family, or have personally cared for patients suffering from Covid. They will tell you that hospitals and healthcare workers are burned out and overrun due to the sheer amount of people who have been infected. It is difficult to describe how it feels leaving a dying person in a hallway of a hospital, because there are not enough beds, nurses, or doctors to provide them with a higher standard of care. I ask that Hopkins does not contribute to this issue. Students should not be learning in person until it is safe for them to do so. Hopkins must change its response. ​