I believe Syracuse had some issues with OOS kids already breaking the rules , they were there for they 14 day Covid timeout and decided on day 4 IIRC to get together and have a non social distancing gathering,.
Also University Of Louisville kicked a number of kids ( 3 or 4) off their soccer team BC they hosted a party off campus that lead to 29 covid cases.
AROO! AROO! AROO! ?
Notre Dame has first case of the virus. Seven people in quarantine after contact tracing. They will have a dashboard with cases updated daily starting next week.
How do the teachers feel about this? What is the positivity in your district? Parents must work in the adjacent big city?
These posts should go to the inside medicine thread, methinks. Certainly treatment develop is good, and hopefully one or more will soon be available.
However, treatments will likely not allow things to normalize for a while, meaning physical distancing and masks will still be required because no treatment will work for everyone, and any treatments are likely to be supplied constrained, at least initially. So in terms of schooling in the fall, there would be limited, or no, impact should a treatment become available.
Amherst sent out a faculty and staff update on return planning yesterday; nothing out of the usual. Mentioned they have set up Adirondack chairs all around campus to facilitate physically-distanced interactions, and that they have given ten people on campus lessons about contact tracing through Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. Everyone coming on campus will be required to complete a COVID-19 training module as well as a daily health status survey. Also (obviously) masks and physical distancing are required everywhere on-campus. They have implemented a pick-up and drop-off procedure for campus mail and printing.
Also, at Amherst, the same faculty and staff email indicated they had administered about 1,435 tests on 515 people since July 13, and none have come back positive.
@RosePetal35 That’s good news.
At all of these campuses, I could see mask wearing being close to 100% but the physical distancing could be hard sometimes. Even when I go to the woods to hike or run or to the mall (outside mall!) to shop, there are plenty of times that are awkward when I have to try to move out of people’s way to try to maintain distance. And it will be awkward walking with a friend on campus while six feet apart when everyone is doing that. I’d like to see aerial footage of one of these campuses trying to keep everyone six feet apart while moving.
And what about moving around the dorm? Kids are going to stay six feet away from each other in hallways, stairwells, elevators? Bathrooms? Bathroom breaks can’t always be timed. Lol.
I think the six feet rule in class or campus buildings will work but really not anywhere else. Maybe it’s mostly important in rooms where kids are sitting for an hour or more.
@homerdog I also think based on the situation they have to say students are required to physically distance everywhere.
@RosePetal35 What do you mean? Can’t put a six foot bubble around every single student for months on end. You would actually wait to go into a building in line with other kids? I’m picturing class starting, maybe 25 kids in the class, all have to enter the building. Students will, one by one, walk up to the door and go in and then then next student waits and then goes in. That’s a little silly. Or in hallways at BC, where we visited last fall and where all kids are back on campus? If they have class in person, those hallways will be filled just like the one in that high school photo that is circulating on social media. I just don’t see moving students being able to stay six feet away from each other all of the time.
Maybe someone here has a student at ND or BC or some big state school can give us the scoop once students are back to class.
Isn’t the rule that you try to stay six feet apart but when you can’t you wear a mask? What is all this talk about requiring students to be six feet apart at all times? That can’t happen in hallways, elevators, etc. I don’t think anyone is expecting that.
I guess each student should read their Covid rules but signs I’ve seen posted around colleges say things like “wear a mask” and “stay six feet apart”. Doesn’t look to me like those two are supposed to be mutually exclusive. If so, then why wear masks after everyone is sitting in class six feet apart?
Obviously a lot of conjecture on my part here, but I don’t think it will look like those photos from the high school (yikes!!). I know at the university where I teach, there’s a plan to stagger class start times (this campus has also been slightly de-densified; I understand BC and many others are not). Anyway, at a typical high school, every one of those kids gets dismissed simultaneously and has ~3 minutes to get to their next class. I think typically in college, I’ve never actually seen any building so completely filled at once, and if they stagger start times or take any other measures such as having more classes in the evening and other ways of spreading out classes, the hallways should never be like that. I believe almost all schools have moved large classes online, so that takes a huge number of students out of classroom buildings.
My understanding is that the real concern for transmission is 15 minutes close contact, especially indoors. If everyone is masked, briefly passing people in your dorm hall or stairwell (especially at campuses where kids are periodically tested) does not seem high risk for transmission. I don’t think perfection is necessary to keep things under control, but responsible behavior with masking and distancing where possible and particularly for longer interactions, etc. I do not mean that I am not at all concerned about colleges bringing back 100% of students and having in-person classes, I actually am quite concerned about that. I, too, eagerly await the results of this grand experiment. But I do believe there are ways of greatly, greatly diminishing risk if people are willing to follow the rules. My concerns are not about kids passing each other too closely in hallways, though–I’m more concerned about unsanctioned social gatherings without masks & even efforts at distancing. Crossing my fingers and toes for great results!!
@EmptyNestSoon2 I agree with all of that. And I don’t believe people need to stay six feet away from each other while wearing masks either outside or during passing periods. It’s just that the “rules” of these colleges harp on that six feet apart quite a bit. I’m just wondering how schools expect that to look in practice.
Princeton grad starts business filling hotels in HI and AK with kids studying remotely. What could go wrong? ?
BC has said that they are staggering start times of classes and making the academic day longer to reduce the number of people in a building at any given time. I have not checked to confirm that is actually happening but do know of some classes taking place pretty late.
I watched a video of BC classrooms. Kids definitely are not six feet apart, more like 3. In an auditorium style room, stickers saying “sit here” have been placed on every third seat, every other row. Once a student chooses a seat, they must sit there for the semester to aid in contact tracing. In a traditional classroom, where chairs can be moved around, there are stickers on the floor indicating where chairs should be placed. Again, it looks more like 3’ apart.
All classrooms have had video recording systems installed and all profs will have enhanced microphones to aid in students hearing through masks and with audio for recordings.
I will definitely post updates on how this is working if kids do actually return to campus. (I’m pretty skeptical.)
@homerdog I know I just mean that considering the situation they have to be putting pressure on all students to physically distance to the extent possible; I think outright stating they don’t have to physically distance in certain situations would be bad for their reputation. I think they don’t expect everyone to maintain six feet from everyone else at all times.
@xyz123a You think there’s a chance that BC will change course? When is move in?
@homerdog, I do think BC (or any Boston school) could change course. Move in starts 8/26. The desire for football revenue might keep them on track, but MA numbers are starting to tick up slightly so the next week or so will be telling.
@NJdad07090 It’s Colgate. I have been really impressed with their handling of this whole situation minus a brief stint when I felt we weren’t getting enough information. With this latest announcement, I am back on board!