COVID-19: Yale professor warns students over 'life or death consequences' as University prepares to reopen

As the Yale University is set to open for the fall semester amid the COVID-19 situation in the United States, a professor has cautioned students that their behaviour could have life or death consequences.

The Washington Post reported that Psychology professor Laurie Santos told students that their behaviour could have "life or death consequences" in an email dated July 1.

"While things will, of course, continue to evolve as the COVID-19 situation changes, it's safe to say that your life in residence in the coming academic year will not be anything like the life you remember at Yale before COVID-19," the Washington Post reported quoting Santos' email to students of Silliman College, Yale University.

The professor further told students "emotionally prepare for the fact that your residential college life will look more like a hospital unit than a residential college," as more spaces could be used for COVID-19 testing of staff and students.

Suzanne Brown, a junior at Yale said that she was a resident of Silliman for her first two years added that she appreciated the "honesty" in Santos' email. "I appreciated that she was trying to be as transparent as possible. The email was needed -- it felt at the time like the larger university administrators were saying 'Don't worry, everything will be okay.'"

Brown added that when she read the email in July, she thought "Maybe it's time to take a Gap year."

Post Santos' email in July, the Washington Post reports that the university officials have provided additional guidance to students as to what they can expect. Yale's president said that there were "encouraging health trends" in the state further highlighting comprehensive testing plans.

Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart in a statement to the Washington Post said that the university leaders "will continue to emphasise collective responsibility for adherence to health and safety rules and for behaviour conducive to public health and education."

"President Salovey said in his Aug. 14 update to students that each member of the Yale community plays a vital role in maintaining the health and safety of our community. 'Every single one of our choices, from putting on a face covering to maintaining distance from others, makes a difference,' he said," Peart further said.

Brown praised the professor's warning that student behaviour would not "just affect students but working staff as well".

About Santos, she said that the professor is "just someone who is very aware and conscious of staff at Silliman, who very much understands there are more people to this university than its students and professors -- that's a perspective that's often overlooked."

"Decisions we make about social distancing and other aspects of our behaviour can have life-or-death consequences, especially for our vulnerable staff who won't have the same choice you have to remain off-campus," Santos said in the email.

"We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections -- and possibly deaths -- in our community. Many of our staff members are from sectors of society that are most vulnerable to Covid-19 infection and mortality, so following the community guidelines will be essential for protecting them," Santos added in the email.

The email from Santos also mentioned a contract which all students returning to campus have to sign which asks students to follow health and safety protocols. According to the Washington Post, the contract also includes details for mandated COVID-19 testing and contact testing.

Yale spokeswoman Peart told The Post that students "unable to meet these commitments will lose access to campus."

But there are some students who question the university's plan of reopening for classes. "Now that we've seen UNC (University of North Carolina) and [the University of] Notre Dame go online, and other schools, too, we just know that it's probably not going to be good," Washington Post reported quoting Madeleine Hutchins, a graduate student.

With regard to Santos' email, she said that "we probably shouldn't be coming back at all, at least not in the way we're trying to do it."

As per the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University, the US has a total of 5,573,517 COVID-19 cases and 174,248 deaths.

( With inputs from ANI )