Harvard, Wesleyan, Amherst et al were early customers of Broad, so it makes sense that they would all be using RT-PCR tests. They measure DNA that has been cloned in a test tube using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase (which is where the RT in RT-PCR comes from.) They are considered 100% accurate.
According to the article cited by @Sybylla, some folks associated with Broad have been involved with different experimental techniques that would speed up the cloning process, but for now, I don’t think it would be accurate to call them PCR tests.
Our area in MD is getting crazy. The public schools have announced virtual learning only for 1st semester. Some parents outraged and vow to move kids to private. Still awaiting details on this plan.
Friday night the County health director announces private/independent schools can not open for in-person instruction until 10/1 at the earliest.
Saturday afternoon the Governor tweets his disagreement with the County health director directive.
Monday morning parents sue the County to get private/independent schools to open.
Monday afternoon the Governor gives into the pressure and issues an amended executive order taking away the health director authority. He amended an emergency executive order, which he issued April 5, that allowed local health departments to have the authority to close any individual facility deemed to be unsafe.
Now public school parents want to sue to open the schools.
Thanks! That probably explains it. So some Broad Institute customers are using the RT-PCR tests, and some are using the rapid antigen tests. There are so many tests, and ideas such as pooled testing, wastewater testing, saliva tests, etc. I’m optimistic about all of them–just want to see lots and lots of testing!
@ElonMomMD - Wow, that’s a significant flurry of activity happening. What a mess. I feel for everyone simultaneously; no action can please everyone (and may not even please anyone?!)
I’m still amazed to see so many states other than mine (Florida) that have so many districts starting online for all. Here it’s a hybrid of B&M and online but the teachers have not been informed yet which classes they will hold. But school boards indicate that many teachers “should be able” to be responsible for some of both (B&M while also checking the laptop for those who are online asking questions, etc.) without serious issues. Sigh.
Chaos everyway imaginable.
PS and when I say “amazed” it’s bc one would think FL with all of our numbers would for sure be starting online for all schools across the state…but nope. Those with power to make decisions think all is fine. Like buses with kids getting temps taken before they board the bus…and if student has an elevated temp s/he will still ride the bus and be taken to school …and only then will the parents be called and asked to pick the student up from the nurses’ office.
@123Mom123 Ugh on the busing. I mentioned earlier, kids often come to H’s school sick and no parent/guardian will answer a phone/voicemail/email and come pick them up. They sit in the office all day until it’s time to be bussed home. It’s not good at all.
@ElonMomMD I’ve been watching the news about MD schools. What a nightmare. Everything about this is a nightmare.
As much as I grumble about H’s situation, I am relieved they are online for 9 weeks and have an interim superintendent who is a stickler about masks. The county is not requiring any student to wear a mask. I am SO glad H does not teach there. They are adamant about starting f2f in a hybrid scheme in a couple of weeks. Our numbers are currently skyrocketing.
I am also glad they aren’t waiting an entire semester to re-evaluate. I think 9 weeks is a long time. I could a mid-quarter re-evaluation would not be out of line, though I suppose the way everything changes by the minute, they could still do that.
My college is using Broad, and it is indeed a self-administered shallow nasal swab. It is quick and painless. (Insert swab, complete three full rotations, and repeat in other nostril.) There is a health professional there to watch each person open the materials and swab, so they can be sure it is done correctly, and there is no contamination. I have a standing appointment twice a week, which goes through the entire semester. If I miss a test, I am not allowed to return back to campus until my next scheduled test later that week. Then I must leave campus immediately until I get the results of that test. My courses would need to shift to remote until the results are in. The college has made clear that we must maintain a strict testing schedule to be allowed on campus at all.
Yep, and the colleges that do have a significant amount of undergrads on campus will likely go 100% online learning.
I personally believe that colleges wanted to be as optimistic about as “normal” college experience as possible (to get families to commit) but in reality knew that they could easily shut things down to online learning at a moments notice.
They are moving the goal posts and I don’t think its ALL related to the increase in CV-19 cases in some states but also relates to taking the path of least resistance while still maintaining their revenue stream. At’s D’s college, there seems to be less and less classes that are taught in person, even the small seminar classes. With requiring the the freshman / sophomore to move off campus by Thanksgiving, I don’t think they have any intention to bring anyone back in the spring (other than athletes and maybe some internationals). You can see the writing on the wall the past few weeks.
It’s hard not to feel that many of these colleges are doing a “bait and switch” which is unfortunate…and is the reason my D decided she isn’t going to play this game anymore this year. I do feel bad for the kids on scholarship or the ones who want to “save” their gap year between undergrad and graduate school who might not have the option to defer or take a gap year this fall.
@ProfSD – The testing process you describe sounds the same as the one the Yale Med School Dean discussed during a Town Hall last month. I haven’t heard anything yet about what happens if a student fails to appear for the twice weekly test.
@socaldad2002 – The bait & switch was predicted months ago. I think many planned to offer online classes to students in residence. The current CV stats have made residential life untenable.
The loss of R&B revenue will hit some of these schools hard.
I am still surprised that anyone is surprised about their student’s college switching in-person classes to remote. There were many colleges that called this early. Bowdoin said all remote on June 22nd. Colleges that are doing in-person classes don’t have some magic info that lets them bring their kids back to in-person class. For some reason (money? politics?), some schools feel like they need to give it a shot. But I keep saying, and it’s true, that I hope they succeed or show best practices that could work. No one wants to be remote for longer than we have to.
@homerdog I agree. My D20’s school (Simmons) called it early. She was unhappy at the time, but as time has gone on and she’s seen her friends either still suspended in limbo as far as their plans, or having had the rug pulled out from them very recently, she’s thankful that she’s had time to get used to the idea, and is hopeful that her school’s online experience will be as good as it possibly can be, given that they’ve been planning for it with certainty for some time.
That said, as a parent, I wish she had the option to take a gap year (she can’t without forfeiting a full tuition scholarship).
FWIW, the Purdue President, Mitch Daniels, is being interviewed on MSNBC, right now. I’m sure it’ll be available on their website later. The chyron is “pushing to reopen.”
@socaldad2002 Bait and switch implies intent to deceive and I don’t think that is the case for all, or even most colleges. I know many people who work in higher ed and they have been tying themselves in knots since March trying to figure out how to make the fall semester work. Course scheduling typically happens months in advance and the narrative in March was that we’d have a first wave, then a return to normalcy in the summer and the likelihood of a second wave some time in the fall/winter. This thinking contributed to the start the semester early and end by Thanksgiving model. Now here we are in August, still in a first wave that has become a tsunami in many parts of the country. Many states are imposing quarantines and testing capacity is highly uneven, as discussed extensively in the past several pages of this thread. In hindsight, we can say that plans for face to face classes were misguided but I doubt that they were as calculated as “bait and switch” implies.
Then again, I am a glass half full kind of person …
Notre Dame update - moved my DS into the dorm on Sunday. They are using normal capacity of the rooms (2 people in a double). They are to wear masks indoors (except in their room) and outside if social distancing is not possible. Students are not to go into others rooms and hallway discussions should be social distanced. His observations so far are that everyone is following the rules. You can’t go anywhere without seeing the ND COVID branding the “HERE” campaign. Essentially every quad has a large tent to help accommodate social distancing for meals.
He is in Marching Band. They will have a number of challenges there. They don’t want them to play and march at the same time (airborne transfer potential). So, we will see how that goes. The fact that not many will be able to attend the game means they can space out more in the stands.
As a review, he was required to take a test about 10 days ago (LabCorp). They have to take their temperature daily and submit a “daily health check” to an app. The app either clears them, green screen or flags them, red screen. To attend an in person class, you must have a green light from the app.
I just asked my son, his schedule hasn’t changed. Only one class is fully online. His lecture with 200+ students is still in person. Classes start in three weeks. I’ll probably have him check every few days for updates.
