Update on Broad- I think we can say they officially met their commitment. My D is at a college that uses Broad and they have met their 24-48 hour commitment on both the initial testing of the entire college over a few days and the weekly testing of the entire college (spread out during the week). The initial results took 36 hours for my D, and the second test results were on the site within 23 hours. She is delighted with her first full week+ of college, loves her dorm, has made new friends, wears masks pretty much everywhere, and spends alot of time with friends outside. Currently only students in their own dorm can visit their own dorm, but if numbers stay as good as they are (1 positive on move in day, out of 4000 students plus faculty) then they are going to allow residential students to visit other dorms and more outside activities (all outside activities have both mask and social distance requirements). Classes start in person on Tuesday (first week was online so they can have a baseline of testing), so hopefully numbers continue low. Most of her classes are hybrid, with 1/2 in person attendance for each class period while the other class dials in live (they will be projected live on the big screen in the classroom), and her professors are also anxious to return to the classroom.
@1Rubin My son is 10 hours away at school, living in an off campus apartment. After classes the other day he spent 90 minutes on a shut down interstate helping to extricate a trapped driver from a tractor trailer that was on its side and pinned against on overpass. There are hundreds of thousands of decent, responsible, empathetic college students just like him. Some of them may even show up to help you in your darkest hour…
My niece is living in a dorm and completely online. There is absolutely no way she could be doing this from either her parent’s or grandparent’s homes. Hardship cases exist, even in a pandemic.
@twoinanddone The announcement on it listed all the sports being cancelled. Only the men’s track & field and x-country teams were cancelled, not the women’s, so it looks like they are trying to balance it out currently.
@Corinthian - you are most likely correct. The number I pulled was from AZ DHS. I was not aware of the other source that is tracking a 7-day average.
ASU is a bit of a wild card. They have so many students living off campus that it will be challenging to pinpoint sources. My DS has 6 classes, 2 of which are ASU Sync. In both of those classes, the professors were granted health waivers. I am not sure how many of the ASU Sync classes are actually holding in person sessions. That said, my DS is still glad to be there doing class rather trying to do it from Northern CA.
It’s too late now but if schools and colleges made more cautious decisions then everyone can open up safely in January with a low case rate and effective vaccination. They didn’t want to loose customers who wanted instant gratification. They aren’t keeping it open for hardship cases. Those cases as well as internationals get accommodated regardless of general opening or not.
I haven’t heard about “rogue” frat parties, but if I did, it would be frat parties of five fraternity members wearing masks and social distancing. Big non-masked frat parties aren’t rogue, they’re mainstream, and that is why frats and sororities are the home of covid on campus.
LOL, magical thinking. The WHO has not seen any evidence that the vaccines will be more than even 50% effective (yet). Do you have any insider information that we will all wake up on Jan 15th with no Covid spread to worry about?
Also, I invite you to read Northeastern’s president’s article on why its important to go back to school safely since Covid will be here for a while:
@suzyQ7 Thanks for posting good news about your D’s school. Nice to hear the success stories! Is it BC?
Good news from Vassar College. This is part of a long e-mail from President Bradley:
"I am writing to let you know that the campus will be moving into Phase 2 of our return to campus, beginning Tuesday, September 8. From the beginning of the on-campus time (since August 8th), we have had a total of 22 student cases, 20 of whom have been asymptomatic and 2 who had mild symptoms. Nearly all of these appear to have been contracted before the student arrived on campus for the semester.
As of today, we have 12 active cases (that is, students who, after testing positive for COVID-19, are currently in isolation for 10 days if asymptomatic or until symptoms subside). On average, each case has had 1-2 contacts (who then are separated and who then self-quarantine for 14 days). Given about 2,070 students on campus, this is a very low prevalence at just more than half a percent. Please continue to watch the VassarTogether dashboard for daily updates."
Bentley
@elena13 What does phase 2 at Vassar entail? How is it different from phase 1?
@wisteria100 - the email is pretty long and detailed so I will give the highlights. There is not a huge difference between Phase 1 and 2, but outside vendors will be allowed in on certain days of the week for different themed events (since students can’t leave campus), there are some changes in terms of the size of both indoor and outdoor gatherings (still masked and 6 feet distanced), exercise is a little less restricted, and there are new buildings and areas of buildings that can be accessed by students now. The pool will be open for reservations but the gym is still closed based on NY guidelines. Varsity athletic teams will begin distanced non-contact practices.
Vanderbilt is another school to watch. They only release numbers once a week, but so far they have everything under control with all students back.
2 more good reports to pass on for Broad Institute participating colleges. Oldest had mandatory pre test, test within 24 hrs and twice a week. All turnarounds on campus have been within 24 hours. Out of 2048 - 1 positive. Other child also goes to a Broad Institute participating college, arrival testing, and then twice weekly throughout the semester. Results also within 24 hrs. 6,069 tests thus far with 3 positives on arrival only.
So much for the supposition floated somewhere back that Broad could not deliver. They are.
What I really wish is if my elder parent’s assisted living could participate with Broad. The testing for our most vulnerable is the real travesty.
Northeastern is not kidding around about the residence hall rules.
NORTHEASTERN DISMISSES 11 STUDENTS FOR GATHERING IN VIOLATION OF COVID-19 POLICIES
payments made to the program will be nonfundable. So these kids are dismissed, but still are paying
Gettysburg is sending all students packing except for freshman, transfer students, RA’s , international students and select seniors. I believe also those who can show extenuating circumstances.
So this is like 1300 students being told on Friday at 4:30 during a holiday weekend that they all must be out by Monday.
Obviously, some folks are angry.
^Apparently Gettysburg was running out of quarantine space and were starting to see symptomatic students.
Disappointing but not surprising. I don’t know what their testing strategy was but it’s becoming evident that more is better and those schools that can’t afford or don’t have access to a testing facility on campus or thru a third party like Broad might struggle.
It doesn’t sound like the rules were a surprise. The consequences probably weren’t either.