UMD has announced their plans for spring semester. Seems very reasonable.
"We plan to begin the spring 2022 semester as planned and in-person on Jan. 24 with the following requirements: go.umd.edu/qTo. As it has been from the beginning, our decision-making is guided by careful monitoring of the pandemic and by campus and local health officials.
All faculty, staff and students must:
· Get a booster by Jan. 24 or within 14 days of becoming eligible
· Be tested by a rapid antigen test no more than 48 hours before coming to campus on Jan. 24
· Sign the I AM #4Maryland pledge to abide by all health protocols
Masks continue to be required indoors. KN95s are required in classrooms and recommended everywhere.
As we learn more, our plans are subject to change based on the latest public health info and guidance. Thank you to all our Terps for remaining diligent in the fight against COVID-19."
There is a difference I think for schools starting now versus later in the month. The main issue is hospital capacity and stress. Staff are out. By the end of the month things may be better. Right now even public transportation is impacted by staff illness. Makes sense to have restrictions during the peak surge and that is what some universities are dealing with. Start date of 1/24 may or may not result in temporary restrictions. Let’s hope things are saner then.
Factually you are correct….some…as in less than 5%. Delta is not driving the current hospital overflow.
The issues are several fold:
Healthcare worker fatigue and illness …ie not enough
The astounding #s of infected even with the # of vaccinated and boostered individuals
The lack of mask wearing or proper mask wearing
Colleges already experienced #3 in the past. And many of us experience it everywhere we go. It’s perhaps the most necessary mitigation strategy and too many, vaxed and not vaxed, don’t fully comply all the time.
Colleges are making their decision based on their belief they can or can’t control this. Most already know the answer from past cycles.
UCSB is leaving it up to the professors. I can’t imagine how this isn’t going to cause grief for everyone. Chancellor’s Update
Between January 18, 2022, and January 31, 2022, instructors may continue to offer instruction remotely or choose to teach in person, and students who choose to remain off campus or who must isolate or quarantine following COVID-19 protocols will be provided with reasonable opportunities to participate remotely in any in-person class.
Also grab n go dining, but booster not required to return to school - required by January 31st (which means it won’t kick in until after the Omicron wave has passed). Fortunately, I think that most of the students will simply get boosted over the break, before they return to school, if they haven’t already.
I got my booster on the 22nd of december, and got covid symptoms on the 6th of january, and so far the sickness has lasted only a few days probably because that booster kicked in. (to stay more on topic) if this spreads quickly through a college population, a lot of people (staff, professors, students) could get sick at the same time and have to stay ‘home’ which could be a big problem. So I definitely get why schools that are starting earlier, during this omicron wave, are going remote at first. Even if a small percentage of people who catch the virus get symptoms like I did, if a large amount of people catch it at once, the number of people who can’t go to work/class could end up being pretty significant.
Can we try to stay on topic in this thread and move the discussions about symptoms, illness, hospitalizations, stats, etc. to the other thread? Thank you.
UC Davis planned on virtual classes for one week (Jan 3-8). They asked for all students to return last week to be tested and create a “stable community.” On Thursday, UCD pushed the start of in-person classes back until the end of the month. They were strong in their language asking for students who had returned to stay in Davis and for students who were still at home to return to Davis as soon as possible.
Yesterday, they let students know that the following classes will be held in-person starting today.
Laboratory, fieldwork, capstone, studio, performance and other similar courses.
Undergraduate, graduate, or professional-level courses that have a focus on experiential learning, interactive learning, and/or hands-on learning.
Internships and field trips (with or without academic credit).
Now the students who (despite the university’s instruction) decided not to return, are scrambling to get back to campus.
Bowdoin will do rapids on arrival and PCRs too. PCRs again three days later. Class remote for first week as they are assuming they’ll have a decent number of positives and want to make sure all can take part in first week of class. Grab and go temporary until second round of PCRs are complete. At that point they expect dine in.
Rapids required from the day before arrival too. Kids take a photo of test with their ID and send it in.
Students isolate in their rooms if a symptomatic or minor cold like symptoms.
Booster must have been administered by Jan 21. Fewer than five students total had medical exemptions for the vaccine for fall semester. No religious exemptions were allowed.
My daughter’s school started today - in person. But we need to keep her home 5 more days because even though the new CDC guidance says, 5 days with a mask is good - she’s still positive and sleeps just a few feet from her roomie.
. She said at least half the class is zooming in of those she attended. This isn’t a late start - but for those starting in person, you might experience similar.
