Let’s get back to topic please
Both of my kids go to school in Washington D.C. (Howard University) and the city has had some mandates that became effective on 1/15/2022 and all college campuses in DC have sites that fall under the new municipal guidelines. The Howard students will take weekly Covid tests (PCR) and the school is now giving access to free N95 and Surgical Masks, and Face Shields (students were offered cloth masks 1st semester). Students on-campus must always be prepared to show electronic or a hard copy of proof of vaccination (along with booster being completed by 1/31/22 or within 30 days of eligibility).
Effective January 15, 2022, the District of Columbia mandates that certain businesses require proof of vaccination for entrance to facilities The following campus areas fall under the new municipal guidelines:
Indoor food and drink establishments, such as:
- Food halls/courts
- Seated dining halls, restaurants, and cafes
Indoor cultural and entertainment establishments, such as:
- Concert, live entertainment venues
- Sporting venues
- Pool and billiard halls
- Bowling alleys
Indoor exercise and recreational facilities, such as:
- Gyms
- Fitness Studios
Indoor event and meeting establishments, such as:
- Banquet halls
- Conference center meeting facilities
- Auditoriums
- Shared work facilities when hosting events
The school’s Covid Dashboard from 1/1/22-1/7/22 still has very high positivity rates out of the 2600+ who were tested (numbers below), but the school has started in-person classes today (hybrid and remote classes are also being offered). If I had to take a poll of the Social Media parent’s groups that I am a part of, there is a definite majority (at least 2-1 ratio) that wants their students taking in-person classes.
Positivity Rate
Faculty/Staff 22.3%
Student 15.9%
Overall Total 19.2%
the question is what happens to the rare and few real medical exemptions to the vaccines . These kids cannot attend school in DC now?
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The DC municipal vaccine requirement entrance to restaurants, etc. has the following exemptions:
These’re really high positivity rates on a campus where vaccination is mandated. Are they based on surveillance tests? A few colleges that I follow have positivity rates ranging from sub 1% to about 5%.
Are the low rates you are thinking of pre-omicron? According to its website, Howard requires vaccination (with religious/health exceptions), and tests regularly. Boosters are required by 1/31, so some of the population may not yet have an effective booster. The numbers above were from 2600+ tests last week.
From the page:
ETA forgot the link:
No. They’re current rates in January.
Those are surveillance tests. What I am not sure about what the school does after faculty, staff and students finish a 10 day quarantine (they are still using the 10 day standard or a negative test after 5+ days). From what I understand, the PCR can show a positive test result for weeks after initially testing positive and the school is using PCR for all of their surveillance testing. So my only question is are they getting positive results for weeks on the same person or are they removed from the testing pool/data for some period of time after finishing a quarantine (they do mention that these are unique positives which makes me thing those are all 1st time positives). I haven’t looked at other school’s covid data, but I am going to look at some of the other DC schools soon, because I recently saw that Washington D.C. had some the worst Covid positivity rates nationally over the last 4-6 weeks.
I’d assume that tests on already infected aren’t included in the surveillance tests by definition.
The few schools that I follow are also located in areas of high infection rates (and positivity rates). On their Covid dashboards, they almost always show the rates in their surrounding communities (city, state, etc.) for comparison purposes. The infection and/or positivity rates on campuses tend to be a fraction of those in their surrounding communities (presumably and primarily because of high vaccination rates on their campuses).
Amherst had a spring semester town hall last night. There will not be a quarantine or isolation period, they are just making the first week of classes online and having students move in before that to minimize the number of students who have to be isolated when in-person classes start. Students asked if there was any chance of any online classes extending beyond the first week, and Provost Epstein responded “No”. Biddy said she has not asked faculty to prepare for the possibility of remote classes beyond the first week, and it would take something “truly remarkable” to cause classes to be remote any longer than that.
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Large fluctuations may come down to timing and who is included in the calculation. Last week Penn’s rate was 6.9%, but the two previous weeks were 13.5% and 17.7%. The “prevalence” in the community is 14.7%, meaning that 14.7% individuals tested in the community have tested positive since Dec. 19.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/BinaxNOW-COVID-19-Antigen-Self-Test-by-Abbott-2-Count/142089281
If anyone is interested.
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Here is the flip-side of providing ONLY in person classes without any accommodations for Covid positive students. I find it to be a completely unreasonable stance by the administration if the professors are willing to help and accommodate Covid positive students. SMH.
I’d be mad if I was a parent of a Covid positive kid at Vanderbilt. My student’s LAC in Michigan is having a big spike in cases right now with about 10% of the student body in quarantine or isolation. Most of them live within driving distance so probably most of those are isolating or quarantining at home. My student says the absent kids attend via Google Meets and the classes are all recorded. The rule has been that if you’re not sick, in isolation or quarantine, you’re expected to be in class in person. But they just sent out an email saying some individual classes may temporarily pivot to remote due to the high number of students unable to attend in person. The decision to temporarily go remote will be made by individual instructors in consultation with their department chairs.
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Students just started to return to UPenn this week, so I’m not surprised that their numbers fluctuated. The few colleges I follow have all started their classes already, with most of their students back on campus. All have managed to keep their daily and 7-day positivity rates at or below 5% (one of them kept the rates below 1%). It’s admittedly a small sample (all with vaccine and mask mandates, frequent surveillance testing, etc.), however.
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Or students who want to attend remotely because they have any contagious disease that they prefer not to share with others…
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Experiences from the past year and half have convinced many schools that hybrid classes don’t work, so any particular class will likely be offered either in-person or remote. If in-person class isn’t possible (because either the instructor or too many students are unable to attend), it automatically defaults to a remote class.
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I agree, this is absurd. I do get having the focus be on in-person. I have almost universally heard that hybrid classes are the worst of all worlds, so I think at this stage of the pandemic, it’s best if the professors focus on the students in front of them (not defer to the screen), and that you are only allowed to zoom if you have some proof that you are officially isolating. I personally believe it’s best if everyone who is healthy attends in person (on these residential campuses that we are often talking about). There is a better energy, better connection, better educational experience that way, in my opinion, if basically everyone is there. I wouldn’t want kids who just don’t want to get out of their pajamas opting to zoom. But for the 5 days of isolation, which may only mean 3 school days plus a weekend, that shouldn’t result in too much absenteeism. To prevent those minimal numbers from watching the zoom, that’s just very wrong in my book.
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Positive rate for surveillance testing at UGa last week, 14.7%. 16.9% for students.
https://healthcenter.uga.edu/healthtopics/covid-19-health-and-exposure-updates
How would these kids have caught up with their work in the past? Pre-Covid, kids didn’t zoom into class. I’m sure the expectation at Vanderbilt is for the professor to be available to the students and make accommodations for them (maybe push any tests out a bit, be willing to meet in person or maybe on zoom for office hours to answer questions etc). Neither Bowdoin or Colgate will be offering remote options past the first week when they understand they might have a large-ish percent of students in isolation.
I don’t agree that all classes should be available via zoom. It’s distracting for the students in the class. What did we all do in the 80s when we missed class? Get notes from friends. Go see your prof. Ask for extra time if you need it.
Our kids have experience with this. At various times have been too sick to go to class with something other than Covid. Professors met with them once they were well enough and helped them catch up. Got the notes, asked questions, grouped up with friends who had been to class to study for any upcoming test. I think it’s a slippery slope to start having all classes available remotely. I know I’m old school.
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