My daughter is taking a test before she gets on the plane, another when she gets settled in at her pit stop, and one more the few days before moving into her college apartment.
Thanks. What sort of discussion has she had with the roommates? Our son will be tested before driving back. His roommates have to fly. Iām trying to help him with a full house plan.
My son heads back to school mid-week. Remote learning begins the third week of January. Heāll receive the first dose of the vaccine by January 15th.
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Given typical test availability (i.e. assuming that neither he nor the roommates has rapid-result tests that can be used every day) and no one has received the vaccineā¦
Ideally, he should quarantine as much as possible for several days before the test, because if he is infected shortly before the test, the viral loads may not be high enough to be detected by the test.
The roommates who have to fly should ideally quarantine as much as possible for several days before flight, test just before flight, quarantine as much as possible for several days upon arrival, and test several days after the flight.
Everyone has to test within a week of moving in- per the school (for on campus and commuters) and then will test the first day too.
My son is returning to his off campus apartment next weekend. Classes start remotely on the 19th. A dorm move in date hasnāt been announced yet so I donāt know what is happening for those kids. There has been no information provided on testing so I assume it will be the same as the fall - if you have symptoms and call the health center you can get a test. Otherwise no testing.
due back on 1/23 with classes starting 2/1. test and quarantine upon arrival. test every 2-3 days for the entire semester. it worked in the fall, but surge is much more now.
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Best wishes Luckyjade2024 we are in similar proximity (but a bit more removed from the city) and the same sentiment about things not being the same as fall. I seem to recall Tufts started to really increase as they sent students home, now it feels like walking right into a surge in the Boston area.
Try testing a few days after arrival with Letās Get Checked. UPS takes 1 day shipping of samples and results with very short turn around time. It costs about $119.
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Thanks. same to you. Tufts was doing really well up until November. Still pretty good all things considering, but way more in quarantine. I hoping a lot of this is flu overlap.
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Iām so glad my daughter and her 5 roommates all had covid. The only thing her college required for off campus students was a negative test to enter the few facilities that were open, and they only had to test once. There was a ton of covid off campus.
@Luckyjade2024 its not the flu. I havenāt heard one peep about flu in the state. The covid positivity rate in MA is almost 8.67%, with most posititves occurring in 0-19 age group and 20-29 age group. Cases have climbed to 6,800 daily and thatās without influx college students in the state. According to State DPH.
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Flu incidence is low across the US: Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report | CDC
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I agree about the flu, but the MASS age group total for 0-19 and 20-29 is 35% in total. This has been the same or lower for that combined age group since July. I think spread has been consistent across all age groups - itās the positivity rate that continues to climb.
https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-dashboard-january-2-2020/download
Sorry Iām not understanding how this is helpful? There is nothing preventing her from catching it again especially if it is so rampant in the community. This is not like the flu where you will most likely only catch it once in a season. There are multiple variants/strains of Covid and a new one that is more virulent has been recently reported. There have been many reports of people catching it more than once.
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It should be lower. A lot lower with the absence of college students since November. And the fact remains that those age groups are highest incidences currently.
I find it oddā¦not one peep about the flu during flu season. My cousin is a nurse in COVID in NY. She said not one flu case in the hospital during the height of flu season. She said many have flu symptoms but testing as COVIDā¦strange.
The experts are saying the lack of flu is because there is no international travel. Normally flu moves into the US by travelers from the southern hemisphere at the end of their winter (Aug/Sept) and the start of our fall. No international travel means no spread of the flu.
Other things that are helping are the masks, hand washing, isolation, wide flu shot compliance. Flu passes from person to person, and when contact is limited, transmission is limited (but it really isnāt here to transmit).
If the kids donāt have it to bring back to college, it wonāt be at the colleges
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Itās not that strange, Luckyjade! Because of all the precautions people are taking to avoid exposure to the coronavirus, they are also reducing flu exposure. My local paper had an article about this yesterday; levels of flu have plummeted statewide. This is consistent with what CDCs in other states are reporting.
Last year it seemed like my son was sick every other week. This school year he hasnāt been sick once. Iām trying to impress upon him the fact that things like handwashing and not sharing drinks with friends are always good ideas!
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Itās still rare, and since they all had it only last month, Iām hoping they retain some immunity. They were also symptomatic. They are still being careful, masks in public, no large gatherings. I do think they are less likely to get covid than those who havenāt had it.
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