So Michigan’s positive rate drop to 1.4% for last 14 days. That’s a large drop from last week at around 2.5%…
Big Ten “might” start football season. I think we will know Monday or Tuesday. There is a big push to do so.
I am not trying to do updates but just talked with my son. Everything is good so far. Classes online are fine. He only had a few minutes to talk since he ended one meeting and was going to go on to a group project meeting for a class. Yes, they do homework on the weekends…LOL. His “live” classes are fine. Again, nothing bother’s him generally so wearing a mask is just not a big deal.
Food is really good (co-op with a chef) and it’s just not a big deal wearing a mask. He sees and talks with students every day. Just everyone is really being cautious where he is. His housing is sorta separated and not very close(10 minute walk) to the main campus but surrounded by tree’s and lots of “green” area’s to go to. It’s like their own corner of the world.
In essence, Amherst is now nearly as open to local restaurant access as Wesleyan. Connecticut restaurants have pretty severe indoor dining caps and with cooler temps arriving soon, take-out will be just about the only thing keeping Middletown’s Main Street alive.
Wow. UT Austin tested students who wanted to go to their football game, and 8% (!!!) tested positive.
I wonder what’s happening at other schools that let people go to football games and don’t test. And, is 8% the rate overall at UT, or are football fans more likely to test positive than other students? Also, why aren’t they doing random testing to find out?
There’s going to be a brisk secondary market in football tickets for future games, as people who can test negative but don’t want to go to the game sell their tickets to people who want to go to the game but test positive.
I think the key issue for the spring will be whether its ok to have students in doubles. Williams, Amherst and Bowdoin have all students in singles for the fall currently, not sure about Middlebury. If Middlebury succeeds at having students in doubles and with limited transmission of the virus, that will be a game changer.
The feds will never mandate a vaccine be taken by the masses; they might require it for a travel visa, however. OTOH, states could easily add that to the list of vaccines required for attending public schools and colleges, but the feds, no way.
Of course, most private colleges will definitely require it.
@“Cardinal Fang” The overall rate in Austin is a hard earned 4.6%. Our school district is currently online and some districts may be moving toward some in person at the end of the month. UT isn’t very popular right now due to the effect on k-12.
@homerdog , LMU has not released spring plans. I think that CA schools seem to be more tied by government on their opening/reopening/closing decisions than schools in other states, or maybe it is LA county, and I think I’ve read somewhere that some larger CA schools are announcing spring closures already. That said, I don’t expect an announcement from LMU for a while; I’m definitely hoping that plans aren’t set soon…I think if my D heard anytime soon that LMU was online for her spring (and last) semester, she would be devastated. Let’s let them all have a little hope and focus on this semester!
And now is my chance to correct what I said about paying OOS tuition there earlier, this is a mistake, it’s private so I just pay tuition!
I don’t know the exact proportions, but tOSU has a large number of kids in doubles. The last four testing days (all weekdays) show 2.9, 1.7, 1.2, 2.1% positivity in the samples (each q/7th of oncampus students). This is from a high of about 6% a couple of weeks ago. The confounding variable here is that a majority of classes are remote; but I would think would exacerbate the ‘roommate effect.’
I have to believe that “back east”, public colleges come first in terms of total enrollment but that Catholic-sponsored colleges come in a strong second in terms of sheer number of individual magnets for “middle-class” families.
@suzyQ7 - Nope on sewer testing. ND is testing based on advice from their own epidemiologists, Cleveland Clinic, Hopkins and Rush. The plan is working pretty well. We will see if we have a spike from Labor Day (some signs late this week) and the football game.
So few tests? They have tested the equivalent of the entire campus this month.
Thanks @cypresspat, this is encouraging news that students in doubles sharing one room do not necessarily increase the positivity rate. The roommate effect is hard to gage. Nonetheless, if Middlebury, Vassar and Wesleyan can pull it off, then one can imagine schools being able to accommodate their entire student populations in a pod set up. It depends on housing availability, I think the Ivies have the same issue.
There is also a blood test for troponin which is found in the blood when heart tissue is being destroyed by infection or infarction. I am not sure how sensitive it is.
The thing is…how do we know if any college is “doing well” unless they are testing everyone twice a week at least? Thoughts on that? I’m not sure how to think about it. If a school like ND isn’t testing that many kids and cases are low, is that a good sign? Or are they just not learning the whole story? Does it matter?
Tufts testing every three days. We are at 0.07% only 9 active cases, all in isolation. I’m in a double. Everyone wears masks while still be social. It’s been great! So glad I’m here. …PS that “controversial” picnic blanket has been used! Everyone sits out on the lawn to eat, study and socialize.
@homerdog that is also my line of questioning. I know people with kids at schools that are only testing symptomatic students and saying that the school has it under control and is successful - Villanova and Appalachian come to mind.