In response to Texas A&M’s decision to move classes to an online format, a majority of the student population has made plans to remain in their hometowns for the remainder of the semester.
With this, several off-campus businesses are seeing the effects COVID-19 has on the College Station community.
Psychology sophomore and HEB employee Robert Vetter said with both Spring Break and the scare from COVID-19, the business and its employees have been working hard to keep up with newfound changes.
“From not having as many employees as usual, we’ve been trying to schedule as many people as possible so we can help in other departments,” Vetter said. “With the scare from the coronavirus and us having an extended break, we’ve been spread thin.”
Several off-campus apartment complexes have also adapted by taking measures to ensure the safety of both residents and student workers.
“We’ve completely shut down our amenities,” Aspire College Station student-worker and political science sophomore Gracie Anne Bathke said. “We’ve reduced our staffing to one manager per day and the student workers don’t come in at all or only come in for two hours every few days to keep up with mail and packages.”
With the cut back of employees to reduce any possible exposure, Bathke said her management has been working diligently to ensure workers are remaining fairly paid, as are several other off-campus businesses.
“Everyone’s hours got cut, but my managers have been brilliant trying to keep everyone with as many of their scheduled hours as possible,” Bathke said.
As for the reaction she has seen so far regarding COVID-19, Bathke said she just wants to remind everyone to remain calm and wash their hands for the safety of everyone in these businesses.
“I think it’s a good idea to social distance yourself and wash your hands,” Bathke said. “People need to calm down and breathe because this isn’t a worst-case-scenario.”