He seems so much more reasonable than the interpretation of his words often are…
When I read that Dr. Fauci interview it really hits home how precarious this situation is and how much our well being hinges on following “the rules” and not only getting testing up and running but doing it correctly.
I think my biggest concern about isolating/quarantining on college campuses is the lack of ICU beds in many rural locations if there are serious cases of C19. I don’t know many parents who would be comfortable with their very sick kids being cared for far away from home in an area that has less than 10 ICU beds.
Soap is supposed to break down this virus. Isn’t the sun also supposed to be effective in killing it?
Any detergent will disable the virus by removing its outer oily layer. High temperature will also kill the virus but it isn’t necessary.
I just took a look at the Brooks Brothers masks…the reviews are mixed, so people should read those to see if some of the concerns might be applicable to them (some reviews saying they are too big for female faces, large gaps on the sides, etc.)
Hopefully posting sources for masks will be ok, since students will need them for the fall…I hope the schools can supply surgical, non-n95 ones, but won’t count on it.
I just ordered 5 of the BB masks. For the money you can’t go wrong($5.44 per mask including tax & shipping). The flexible wire for the bridge of the nose makes a big difference when fitting a mask.
Does anyone know the total number of Covid-19 patients in the U.S. under the age of 25 that ended up in an ICU?
@Leigh22 I don’t think ICU bed availability will ever factor into my decision making process, or my son’s.
I’m thinking maybe hand washing followed by a hot iron to press/dry it will work. Are students allowed irons in dorms or are those considered fire hazards like hot plates? I was thinking rather than an ironing board just wrapping a small wood cutting board with the some replacement ironing board fabric.
Actually just found ‘ironing mats’ online instead that can be used on a desk, but still wondering if sending an iron is ok?
I think colleges don’t want to refund dorm and food money this time around. The student can stay in the dorm and they will feed them, but it will be with very limited contact. Basically a very boring existence.
Agree. Very reasonable and this is consistent with what we are hearing from a lot of schools:
"I’ve heard of one model, which is getting people back to school at the end of August and keeping them there until Thanksgiving break. Instead of having Thanksgiving and then coming back, which would increase the chances of spreading an infection, have them get to Thanksgiving and go home until the New Year.
Whether that model works or not, what it does is it prevents the back and forth, which would be enhancing transmission at a time of the season when you would likely see a considerable amount of respiratory-borne illness."
Agree. The fact of the matter is that home made masks are substantially less effective at preventing spread than surgical. So if we are serious about mask wearing in order to stop the spread (instead of wearing them to make others feel safe) then surgical masks should be the standard. Even if the kids have to rewear them after X number of hours of wear (need to determine X - how long after being worn are they effective).
I hate to say this but, I no longer see infection on campus being the main problem. Those kids are going to arrive weeks, perhaps months after spreading it back home.
It’s not many and those that do almost always have a preexisting condition.
The problem of limited ICU beds will impact students because everything will be shutdown if an area is in danger of overloading their healthcare system.
Are students thinking of taking less stuff* to school this year because of the possibility of having to retreat quickly? It seems a lot of kids had to pack quickly or go back for things. My younger daughter had very little at school, but my older one took less and less stuff with her every year.
*other than the stack of masks and cleaning things
@BuckeyeMWDSG Lol! Thanks for the laugh. No chance our S19 is going to wash and then iron his masks. He has 24 pairs of underwear at school for a reason. Weekly laundry is not a thing. The clothes that mostly need washing are his workout clothes and those he leaves in the locker room to be washed for him and they come back clean on his “hook” the next day. Thank goodness for a year round sport. I’ll definitely be buying packs of disposable masks.
@AlwaysMoving Agreed, but once my son is in his off-campus apartment he’s not coming home. He’ll simply “embrace the suck” and carry on with online classes…again…
The data I’ve seen suggest they typically last 4-8 hours of continuous use. However, the determining factor is moisture (from breathing). Moisture clogs airflow through the mask, forcing air to flow around the mask which defeats its purpose.
Ohio breaks down their hospitalizations by age range, but not the ICU beds (though that is shown as part of overall hospitalizations). https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/key-metrics/hospitalizations
The dashboard has good overall information broken down by county, but current trends is most helpful. Cases expected to rise as testing becomes more available. Governor says he will mostly be looking at hospitalizations which is a lagging indicator. https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/overview
Dashboard is inclusive of prison information. That information is here https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/static/DRCCOVID-19Information.pdf
And each local (113) health department has their own site with information, too.
Ohio was ‘zoned’ into areas for hospitals to work together to provide care. They decreased number of patients by eliminating elective procedures that require hospitalization and built up ICU capacity.
Wouldn’t any washing with soap or detergent destroy SARS-CoV-2 without needing any particularly involved or obscure washing methods?
So reusable masks can go into the washer with detergent. And then putting them in the dryer afterward will add heat anyway.
I guess it depends on how far away the W/D area is from the dorm room. That was always quite a trek for my kids.
My masks at home always come out of the dryer as little wads that need ironing anyway.