So according to the SDSU website, they only did 800 tests last week and since there seems to be no mandatory testing of all students and faculty, it’s pretty misleading for them to say only 42 positive cases for a population of 33,000 undergrad students.
Compare that to my D’s college that only has 7,500 undergrads, they administered almost 23,000 tests last week and 349 students were positive.
The bottom line is it’s easy for SDSU to find very little COVID positive tests because they are only testing a few hundred students each week!
Wow I’m actually pretty surprised at this. BC was all about the double masking last year. We visited in April and the Covid protocols were really strict. We walked around with a student we know and she double masked the whole time we were outside! Are they not mandating masks in the library, dining halls, etc? I know ND not mandating in classrooms but you do have to wear a mask in more public areas like the student union, the gym, etc
I do think some college presidents are passing the buck by pushing the masking decision down to the profs. I bet that’s not popular with the faculty.
Here at my daughter’s Texas public. On 3 of her 4 classes (all Honors class with 25 or less students), the Professors’ put on the syllabus they strongly urged masking to help keep the classes f2f. Those classes have 100% (at least in D’s sections) compliance. Her 4th class is 45 students and she has noticed a marked uptick in students wearing mask from appox 10% to 40-50% over last week. This weekend had a flurry of emails from Professors to students alerting them of someone testing positive in classes and the student could receive another email if contact traced. Fingers crossed more and more and students will mask up and keep our university f2f.
Apparently classrooms and laboratories are not open to the “public” so they feel that those areas do not come under Boston/Newton municipal masking requirements.
Noted. Everyone living on campus had to be tested upon arrival before moving into the dorms. Those tests were administered from 8/18-8/20. I don’t know the number of students living on campus. Obviously much lower than 33,000. Whoever tested positive at that time has to move to the isolation dorm.
No double masking required at BC last year, that must have been a personal choice. Professors may request but cannot mandate masks in their classroom. D20 has one prof who requested masks and all students complied. None of her other profs wear or request masks. No masks in dining halls, but they must be worn in other public places such as the book store. I am not sure if they consider the library a public place or like a classroom where masks are not required. BC was actually the least strict of the Boston area schools last year so I am not surprised by their decision. Having said that, BC is very careful to communicate that things can change at any time. They have a higher (99.2%) vaccination rate and lower test positivity rate ( I think about .29%) than the surrounding area which has played into their decision. If the test positivity rate starts to increase then I believe rules will begin to change. The big test will be this weekend. There is a football game on Saturday so there will be lots of non students on campus. All attendees must show proof of vaccination or negative test.
Me too, to he honest. It was a prof with young children at home. One professor is teaching outside, so maybe when the weather turns, masks will be requested there too.
y’know, Gen Z seems to me to be just better at this sort of thing. I suspect that if we left it to them, they’d rapidly conclude as a group that it’s wrong to expose the profs and their families, and those who still wanted to be jerks about it should be in separate sections with profs who don’t care, but they shouldn’t get in the way of everyone else being in-person as long as possible. Then they’d present admin with their demands and when admin pointed out the staffing problems, they’d say “you’re making this too complicated” and go poll the profs themselves, and then present admin with a list of “masks profs” and “whatever profs” for all the large departments and a bunch of the small ones; that’d take about three days. Profs would then say, “sounds legit” and sort it with admin. The kids would massively underestimate the risks to themselves, but I think they’d have this sorted inside of two weeks.
Whitman College tested all freshman upon arrival, with 0.5% positivity rate. Will test again 1 week later. And they have an interesting testing protocol involving 3 different Covid tests. Depending on test results the student will 1) be quarantined, 2) not be quarantined or 3) be required to sleep in quarantine housing but can go to class with KN95 mask.
Whitman’s plan is pretty interesting. I’ve been commenting that there is so little data on whether asymptomatic, vaccinated people are infectious and for how long. There is a study coming out of Singapore that shows those vaccinated clear the virus much more quickly. It would make a huge difference if the 10 day quarantine could be shortened.
I think I might have mentioned it pages ago but Bowdoin has a ten day isolation with a way to get out early. They will test on day 2, day 4, day 6, day 8 and day 10 of isolation. Two negative tests and your isolation is over. I kind of doubt someone would test negative on day two but I think that test is to sort of check if the first test was a false positive, so maybe that student would be out on day four with two negative tests. For someone who is truly positive, maybe there could be a negative test by day four. I guess it matters when they took their test that was positive. If it was towards the end of the days when they would test positive, they might get two negative tests early in the ten day isolation.
She was positive on day 1, then had two negative tests and then a positive on day 8? Or do you mean she was a close contact and didn’t test positive until day 8?
Bowdoin’s rules above are for positive cases in isolation.
Close contact. She was exposed on day x. Got symptomatic and was tested two times over the next 5 days. Both negative. Dr tested her again on day 8 and was finally positive. She was vaxxed.
