This week Eastern “encouraged” and “expected” students and employees to get tested for COVID-19 as they flood back to campus for the Spring 2022 semester. Despite this, they apparently did not have it in them to require the simple task of students and employees getting tested despite the number of COVID-19 cases rising drastically nationwide.

We at The Daily Eastern News are appalled that university officials so seasoned are deciding to take the backseat on this matter and be inactive, putting the campus and surrounding communities at risk in the process.

Testing is the absolute bare minimum that the university should be requiring and only requiring testing would be laughable if it was not so willingly complicit in spreading COVID-19.

Since the start of the pandemic to Dec. 31, 2021, Coles County had 10,118 cases. Within a week of the new year, that number had jumped nearly 10 percent to 11,085.

There is no doubt that number will increase as students and employees partake in their optional testing, only adding to the issues here in Charleston and the county as a whole and who knows how many more cases will spread from individuals who do not get tested because they are not required to.

With the lack of action from administrators, we are worried about what comes next. What will make the university finally take a stand and ensure students’ safety?