OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An OSU-OKC EMT student says a professor exposed his students to COVID-19 last week by re-entering the classroom and talking to the students right after he had tested positive.
“I’m definitely questioning whether or not I should even continue with the program,” Javier Martinez told KFOR on Thursday.
Martinez is feeling that way because last week in one of his classes at OSU-OKC, where he’s studying to be a paramedic, he had what he considers a careless COVID-19 exposure.
“He had a phone call that he was urgently waiting on,” Martinez said.
He’s talking about his instructor, and that phone call was regarding his COVID-19 test results.
“We got told to go to the back of the classroom where he proceeded to tell us that he had just got a call that he was positive for COVID and had been experiencing, what he believed to be, a sinus headache prior,” said Martinez. “Went ahead and told us that we were all fine. We weren’t exposed.”
The professor allegedly told them they shouldn’t be worried because he’s vaccinated.
“It’s common knowledge that vaccinated or not, you can still spread it,” Martinez said.
Martinez said his instructor also told them he planned to be back at school that following Tuesday, only six days after testing positive.
KFOR contacted officials with OSU-OKC and they sent us this statement:
“Since the early days of the pandemic, OSU-OKC has had established COVID-19 protocols and response plans in place as outlined at https://osuokc.edu/covid19/plan. These protocols are reviewed and communicated frequently, especially in the lead up to and beginning of the fall semester and in-person course offerings. We were alerted today to an incident on campus that occurred last week in which a faculty member did not follow the established COVID-19 protocols. As this is a personnel matter, the university will not be able to comment further on the specifics of this case. Any students or employees involved have been notified.”
“We have a toddler at home. My daughter, obviously, is unable to get the vaccine at the moment,” Said Martinez. “I just don’t want to be responsible for bringing anything back to them or having my daughter on a ventilator, God forbid, because of someone who should know better.”
