Alabama-Tuscaloosa seems set to be the poster child of everything that is just wrong - wrong - wrong about the summer of 2020. The network news is reporting that upwards of 1500 students may have tested positive. And yet, public officials have expressed doubt that students will be sent home. The reason? The number of local businesses that depend on the college community to remain afloat.
Doesn’t seem like their pre-entry testing was particularly effective as I find it hard to believe that all those cases that were identified in the 9 days after arriving on campus were somehow transmitted there.
Yes… here is the Triggers Document available to all:
https://utexas.app.box.com/s/zpjn0iab29nkmvl2fyzossty3an6xb0v
Do you think that the current situation at the University of Alabama is the fault of only the individuals who are too selfish to pull together? I don’t.
Apparently, the people in charge of UA completely ignored all the science as well as the reality of the level of contagion in the region.
The Washington Post reports:
Rising cases statewide in Alabama may have contributed to the outbreak on campus. Infections in the state erupted in July and were trending upward again after dipping slightly in August. The rolling average for new daily reported cases has jumped more than 34 percent over the past week, according to The Washington Post’s tracking, with a test positivity rate of 14 percent, far higher than public health experts recommend for reopening businesses.
The situation at the University of Alabama was “a very cautionary tale” but “somewhat unique in that the surrounding region was so bad to start off with,” said Howard Forman, a public health professor at Yale University.
I am willing to blame the university officials and the state officials as well as the students and their parents for this catastrophic fail. They had all the information they needed to know that opening the campus to students would lead to massive spread of the virus and they did it anyway. They deserve all the finger pointing they will be getting for being totally irresponsible.
OMG. There. Not Their. Damn text to speech! Sorry!!!
I don’t believe that’s a recommendation…it’s a requirement, one our local SUNY college may be testing soon.
I looked at the Triggers Document from the University of Texas. It’s remarkably vague. There are no triggers, just some issues that officials might think about. It’s a masterpiece of bureaucratic obfuscation.
For example, suppose I wanted to know how many cases it would take for a campus to close. I consult the document, and discover “A combination of community and campus criteria might lead to further campus restrictions, partial closure or full closure.” Might.
What are these criteria? One is, “Significant increases in the percentage of positive symptomatic cases or positive surveillance tests.” What counts as a significant increase? No idea. The document doesn’t specify. And even if the significant increases happen, the campus might or might not close.
Hmm… I was also in MA this week to drop my D20 at Tufts. We saw many more than one person without a mask, although most were wearing one… This included the Harvard Square area, where we spent several hours. I would say my area of CA has a higher compliance rate than what I saw of the Boston suburbs.
We moved on to NY and NJ to visit relatives briefly. Both sets of family members report that the big difference there is people really don’t feel the need to wear masks outside (this was Westchester County and Asbury Park, NJ.) Only a minority do, even in the business districts. They will put them on if they go inside a business.
We’'ve now made it to the Philly suburbs to drop S20 at Haverford. I would say (small sample size so far) somewhat less public mask wearing here, although it’s still the norm. We went to a Mexican restaurant in the town of Bryn Mawr and it was totally packed with college students, group size ranging from 2 to over 10. All sitting closely together at their tables with no masks (yes, of course they are allowed to take them off to eat and drink, but many walked up to the restaurant already pulling them off.) Was not clear what colleges they are from–Haverford hasn’t really started up yet, Bryn Mawr also just getting going; if I had to guess I’d say more of them were from VIllanova., since when I drove by there earlier in the day I saw many groups of students out walking on the street. I was a bit shocked at how many kids were out socializing at this one restaurant–at least 10 groups. I’m guessing they’re older because most seemed to be ordering alcohol.
Not sure how this college experiment is going to go for the many local colleges in this area.
@oaktown78 thanks for that update. My D20 decided to stay remote at home for fall and though she had hoped other plans would work out, she’s come to think she made the right choice. Some of her friends are planning pods even though haverford has expressly said no pods and others are planning to spend alone time with significant others. She really hopes everything goes as planned and she can be back for spring. Being home isn’t ideal for her either- she and her father are worse than oil and water- but she feels safer from covid here for now.
I am one of those people who think wearing masks outside (walking around) is purely theater and only necessary because Americans don’t do nuance and can’t follow nuanced rules. The chances of catching Covid in open air with momentary contact even under 3 ft is slim. But we have to do this because people need to be reminded that we are in a pandemic and need to do social distancing- the mask is a constant visual reminder. Therefore, I really don’t judge chin wearing masked people when I’m out and about. Indoors is a different story.
I’m really hoping my D’s college lightens up on the outdoor mask wear OR on the outdoor congregation rules once they are in a groove of low weekly testing positivity rates. So far, there has only been 1 positive out of a few thousand tests. Masked and socially distanced kids are disbursed quickly if more than a dozen or so congregate outdoors. If numbers stay low, they really should lighten up on the outdoor socialization or kids will go off campus or indoors.
I think Alabama will have to address this immediately. I think they have to send everyone home now. Here’s the nightmare scenario…
We know that the virus spreads exponentially. So, while today there may be enough capacity for quarantining, in two weeks there will be so many sick students and staff, the capacity will be overrun.
And then they are stuck.
Are they going to send thousands of sick students home? Are they going to keep thousands of sick students on campus? Who is going to show up to teach these students? And if you are healthy student, are you going to risk going to class?
Shutting face-to-face now is the least worst scenario. It will happen in two weeks anyways, but by then the University will have the unpalatable prospect of having to disperse infection from a hot spot.
I wasn’t judging, just commenting on the different rates of mask wearing in the different spots we visited. I was judging the student groups at the restaurant all packed in tightly. 
@oaktown78 Were the diners you are referring to seated inside or out?
Really? What is their rationale? I get that it might be exclusionary but the flip side of that is social isolation.
TBH, I’m not sure which makes less sense, wearing a mask outside at all times or the constant pulling up and pushing down of their masks I see whenever pedestrians approach an intersection or when they pass another person - who is likewise not wearing a mask. One of the reasons Dr. Fauci was reluctant to endorse widespread mask wearing back in February (other than the fact that there weren’t any masks to wear) was that it would just encourage people to touch their faces more.
The kids will be on campus for two and a half months. If they’re lucky.
Agree And Dr. Fauci himself was captured with his mask down around his chin at a baseball game in the stands with family and friends. Outside. So okay.
I know some of you are reporting that your kids are just fine with campuses being the way they are - the masks, the distancing, the chance of getting Covid and being isolated. I’ve seen a lot of photos by now from a lot of colleges on Instagram etc and I think it looks like an awful existence. I really hope something happens before Jan to change things on campuses a bit. I do not see S19 going back if campus looks like this. Remote class might be ok but all of the other stuff is just so constricting. I’m not saying throw large parties but the six feet distance at all times and the masks outside and no sports is just too much.
My friend’s son is at one of the small SUNY schools mentioned above. He’s happy, following the rules, and doesn’t think it’s an awful existence. I think it depends on the individual.
Likewise, my senior is having a great time at school. Stays with her roommates and friend group, and enjoys the year as much as any other. Slight adjustment to the masks the first day or two, then it all became routine
Well, we are 24 hrs away from it being a week since my son tested and still no result!! Classes start tomorrow and he’s not allowed to go. The school isn’t helping at all and crowing about how well testing is going on social media.
Over 1000 tests complete and they are about to start round 2. They’ve only had one positive so far, and that was someone who was working remotely.
But again, my kid is literally sitting in his dorm room waiting for something, ANYthing, to happen. And that’s really all I care about!!