Idaho can take a lesson from Micron to protect against coronavirus

Micron Technology took the bull by the horns with its recent announcement that it would implement health screening at its plant and offices for employees and visitors. Micron cited the “increase in novel coronavirus cases and country travel restrictions” in its decision to proactively implement health screenings.

Given the number of international visitors and visitors from out of state, that is a good move. Every evening, large numbers of Micron employees leave the company and head for home and the community where they live. Whether it’s a visit to a restaurant, dry cleaners or the myriad other places people come into contact with their neighbors, Micron’s employees could easily pass the coronavirus on to others and from there, we have a Boise, Idaho, that could resemble the empty streets of a city in China.

Other companies and places of business will have to determine on their own whether they need to implement the same kind of screenings Micron has based on who their clientele is and, most importantly, how likely it is they would be visited by people from outside of Boise.

What should be obvious to even the casual observer of our politics and leadership in Washington is just how unstable President Trump has shown himself to be. With the pack of lies and misrepresentations that characterize his presidency, communities, businesses, educators and health care organizations would do well to take a very conservative approach to protection of its citizens and employees as Micron seems to be doing.

There is no way this nation can count on reliable, factual and candid content on the coronavirus coming out of the president’s office. He has already made an effort to change the messaging coming out of the CDC. Trump seems more concerned about how the CDC’s pronouncements and warnings about the spread of the coronavirus will affect the stock market for fear that it will influence his reelection efforts. State and local leadership must step in to fill this void where citizens can be reassured that a political calculus is not in play in determining the information citizens must have to remain safe and take the necessary precautions.

Every fall term, Idaho universities welcome large numbers of students from out-of-state and international students as well. How will parents from Washington, Oregon, California and other states who are sending their students to Idaho feel about travel in the coming months, especially with air travel more likely to spread the virus? How will parents feel about their students attending college far from home and the concern that things can be much safer for a family if their students are closer to home.

Parents of students who come from out of state could decide to keep their students closer to home. That would have a significant impact on non-resident tuition revenue and drive university budgets into the red, already under duress from the tuition freeze and budget cuts to higher education.

What kind of policies should be in effect to assure all students and parents, including out-of-state parents that our campuses have taken all the necessary protections? How will higher education in Idaho deal with its international students who provide our own Idaho students with a window to their cultures across the globe, but could bring back more than a cultural advantage?

The State Board of Education will determine its role in how Idaho education addresses the impact of the coronavirus in its schools and on its campuses. Rather than wait around for the next round of scary projections, Idaho’s universities and colleges should have a plan that details just how they see the coronavirus impacting their campus and how they intend to take action to deal with it.

Each campus must have a plan on how it will change its way of doing business, its way of learning, its classroom protocols, its student activities, its sporting events. Faculty must be thinking about how this affects them, standing before a “petri dish” of students in confined quarters, any one of whom might be capable of passing along the virus. If Micron is implementing health screening for its visitors and employees, then should our universities have similar required health screenings?

Some universities have been expanding their online courses in recent years. Perhaps this is a time to think through how online education can substitute for in-class learning should a pandemic threaten daily life in America and Idaho the way it has in China. Short of a complete online class where there is no physical contact between student and professor, faculty can devise alternative approaches to class meetings that may rely less on in-class instruction and more on online opportunities for student discussions.

Micron appears to have taken the first step with its proactive approach to health screening. It is now imperative for the State of Idaho, its cities, businesses, education sector and its health care organizations to be on alert and to have plans for the possibility of an outbreak here in Boise.

Dr. Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said earlier this week that many countries have stopped it from becoming an outbreak.

A country’s health system seems to be one reason for their success, with an adequate supply of ventilators for infected patients, but it is also important for all sectors of the economy and the community to be on guard and prepared. It will take enlightened and honest leadership at the state and local levels of government and the kind of proactive leadership Micron has modeled to remain safe in the Idaho we call home.