The original sin was inviting the students back to campus<\/em>\u2014Michael Innis-Jimenez, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa (2,690 cases)<\/p>\n\n\n\n What we didn\u2019t model for is that people would choose to go to a party if they knew that they were positive.<\/em>\u2014Martin Burke, University of Illinois<\/p>\n\n\n\n The virus\nbeat us.<\/em>\u2014Robert Kelchen, Seaton Hall University <\/p>\n\n\n\n By one set of measures, the U.S.\nranks 131st<\/sup> in the world in controlling the coronavirus.\nResearchers at www.endcoronavirus.org<\/a> rank countries in three categories: those that have\n\u201cbeat the virus\u201d (30); those that are \u201cnearly there\u201d (14); and those that \u201cneed\naction,\u201d where the U.S., Brazil, Sweden, and Israel join 97 other nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When Israel opened its schools in\nlate May, they experienced a huge virus outbreak, which, as one news source\nreported, \u201cforced hundreds of schools to close, and tens of thousands of\nstudents and teachers were quarantined.\u201d Responding to 4,000 daily new coronavirus\ninfections (the most per capita in the world), Israel is now undergoing a\nsecond 14-day lockdown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. Has Not\n\u201cTurned the Corner\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOut of control\u201d most aptly\ndescribes government mismanagement in the U.S., Brazil, and India. A Trump\ninspired premature opening of American businesses and schools, primarily in the\nSouth, led to record number of cases and deaths in July. Memorial Day celebrations\nmay have been a primary driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s fatuous claim that \u201cwe have\nturned the corner,\u201d belies a Labor Day spike and the opening of schools,\ncolleges, and universities. Virus cases rose 22 percent two weeks after the\nholiday and deaths increased 5 percent as of September 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many Campus\nResidences in Quarantine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to a recent analysis,\nWisconsin is the only blue state among 11 red states that have the most cases\nper capita, and that is most likely because the University of Wisconsin-Madison\nhas 2,775+ cases and has suspended in-person instruction. (At one time 65\npercent of Dane County\u2019s cases were UW students.) Two dorms are now in\nquarantine, and the county commissioners are considering sending all dorm\nresidents home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other authorities, including the\nWhite House\u2019s Debra Birx, have warned that sending students home without\ntesting them will only further spread the virus. At the University of Illinois,\nthe administration has locked down its dormitories and allow students out only\nfor classes and medical emergencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Faced with a tripling of cases, the\nUniversity of Tennessee-Knoxville has run out of quarantine space and has told\nsome uninfected students to move out of their dorms. At the University of\nArizona, all students on campus and within a specified perimeter are being told\nto shelter in place for 14 days. Other universities that have mandated a\ntwo-week quarantine include University of Colorado, North Carolina State,\nMichigan State, and Notre Dame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeyond our\nWildest Nightmares\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gavin Yamey, a Duke professor of\nGlobal Health, exclaims: \u201cIt has been beyond our wildest nightmares. It has\nbeen a debacle and a national catastrophe. It was a self-inflicted national\nwound.\u201d Duke has the lowest infection rate on the nation\u2019s campuses, but Yamey\nstill recommends that all students be tested before they go home for\nThanksgiving break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n College Towns:\n3,200 Extra Cases per day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n An incomplete survey of 1,472\ncampuses updated frequently by the National Education Association reported\n196,672 coronavirus cases and 125 deaths on October 10. (See site at\nt.ly\/RHpc.) Researchers from three institutions have done a more comprehensive\nstudy using cell phone and GPS data. They estimate that 3,200 extra cases per\nday appeared in college towns from mid-July to mid-September. This was the same\nmethod that produced the 267,000 death-estimate for new cases stemming from the\nSturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About 40 percent of college and\nuniversity campuses were set to open for in-person classes, but only 25 percent\nhave met that goal and the rest have gone to on-line teaching. Nine of 15 major\npublic universities have switched to virtual instruction. Tim White, former\nUniversity of Idaho president and now Chancellor of the 23-campus California\nState University (the largest in the nation), has moved his 484,300 students\non-line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cClose Fraternity\nHouses. Period\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pittsburgh Regional Health released\na survey of public health experts on how colleges should respond to virus\noutbreaks. One of the report\u2019s conclusions was: \u201cClose fraternity houses.\nPeriod.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials at Indiana University-Bloomington requested that all\nGreek houses close for the semester, but negotiations led to suspending 40 and\nlocking down the rest. After a party at the Acacia Fraternity house, 88 percent\nof its members tested positive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Purdue University has quarantined 23 fraternities, sororities\nand other student housing, and Boise State University has suspended three\nfraternities and 18 students for violating virus regulations. The University of\nIdaho has locked down 8 Greek houses. I turned in Lambda Alpha Theta on\nSeptember 5, but it took the rest of the month (and many more infections) for\nthe administration to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Administrators are the Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The administration at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa warned\nfaculty not to discuss the pandemic or have students report positive cases to\nthem. University of Missouri president Mun Choi\nhad blocked his Twitter account after receiving complaints about his COVID\npolicies, but the backlash was so great that he unblocked it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Students at Notre Dame University\nhave demanded that their president resign after he mingled unmasked in the\ncrowd gathered at the White House after the announcement of Amy Comey Barret\u2019s\nnomination to the Supreme Court. A journalist was not able to identify whom\nbystanders said was a college president lining up unmasked for selfies at a\nMaryland bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Athletes,\nCOVID-19, and Myocarditis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Idaho promised\nthat it would update its athletic case numbers by August 31, but it has yet to\ndo so. During the month of July, 9 athletes had tested positive and two staff\nas well. I could not find any data for Idaho State University athletes. Boise\nState University has reported 77 cases among its athletes and a 7.3 percent\npositivity rate. The CDC considers 5 percent and below that for safe personal\ninteractions, and any county rate above 10 percent puts them a \u201cred zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ESPN surveyed 65 athletic\npowerhouses and one-third did not provide coronavirus protocols nor did they\nrelease case numbers. This information is imperative because 15 percent of\ncollege athletes have been diagnosed with myocarditis, which is an inflammation\nof the heart muscle that can be fatal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In August Jamain Stephens, a promising football recruit at\nPennsylvania\u2019s California University, came down with the virus and then\nsuddenly died of a blood clot. Neither Stephens nor his team members were\ntested for the virus, no temperatures were taken, and there was no contact\ntracing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ed Orgeron, Louisiana State\u2019s football coach, reported that \u201cmost\nof his players had contracted the virus.\u201d Several other athletic coaches have\ntested positive. After 27 tested positive, every athlete at Miami University in\nOhio will have to isolate for two weeks. All\nathletic activity at the University of Maryland-College Park was halted after\npositive results rose sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Least 98\nPost-COVID Illnesses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Natalie Lambert has conducted a COVID-19 \u201cLong Hauler\u201d survey,\nand she has found 98 long-lasting conditions due to the virus, many in young\npeople. They people are experiencing cognitive dysfunction or memory loss; some\nhave lung pain, hypoxia, or profound fatigue; others have had strokes, blood\nclots, numbness, hearing loss, increased heart rate, or cardiac dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n COVID-19\u2019s \u201cLong Tail\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Over 500,000 children have now tested positive for the virus, and\ndoctors say that some of them may suffer from post-COVID illnesses for the rest\nof their lives. They will of course need treatment much longer than older\npatients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One doctor warned that \u201cif someone in their teens and 20s suffers\na stroke or embolism, it could impact their long-term life choices in profound\nways.\u201d CNN anchor and virus survivor Richard Quest has warned that \u201cCOVID is a\ntornado with a very long tail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Virus Increases at\nU. of Idaho and Washington State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A local columnist for the\nMoscow-Pullman newspaper to reassure his readers that, as there have\nbeen no local hospitalizations or deaths, we should not be worried. Since he\nwrote, there have been six virus admissions at local hospitals and two deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the CDC, hospitalization rates have risen to 100 per\n100,000 among ages 0-29, with an alarming 17 per 100,000 for children 0-4 years\nold, and 74 per 100,000 for age group 18-29. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first round of testing at the\nUniversity of Idaho in Moscow found 34 cases, but after a Labor Day spike, the\ntotal is now 307\u201441 percent increase since September 21 and 46 percent of the\ncases in Latah County since the same date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Washington State University (8\nmiles away from the UI) now has over 900 cases and Pullman made national\nheadlines for college towns that have the highest per capita numbers. (The UI\nhas now taken WSU\u2019s place on the New York Times\u2019<\/em>\nCOVID-19 map as a national hot spot.) The total case numbers in Whitman County\nis currently 1,458. Following national trends, the largest group of new\ninfections for Whitman and Latah County is people from 18-29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From September 6-12 the percentage\nof those who tested positive in Whitman County was an alarming 19 percent. The\nUI positivity rate has now climbed to 8.35 percent. The rate state-wide for\nIdaho is 10.2 percent. Johns Hopkins University has reported a 22 percent\ninfection rate for Idaho, but state health officials have declared that\nresearchers there have used different data. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of high infection rates in\ntheir respective counties, Trump\u2019s Task Force has requested that BSU, UI, and Brigham Young\nUniversity-Idaho switch to on-line instruction. UI officials have resisted\nsaying that the recommendation was based on false positivity rates. (Latah\nCounty, however, is in the \u201cred zone\u201d with a rate 11 percent.) Nevertheless,\nthey have now decided to test every student on campus, and the administration\nwill reconsider their commitment in in-class instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good Virus\nPositivity Rate at Boise State<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Idaho State University has reported\n217 cases among students and staff, which is 16 percent of Bannock County\u2019s\n1,346 cases. (No positivity rate for ISU was available.) With about double the\nnumber of students, Boise State University has 402 cases with a low 2.74\npercent infection rate. This shows that there has been enough testing to\nvalidate good progress on controlling the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BSU-AFT President Tedd McDonald\nemailed me that currently about half of the institution\u2019s classes are now\ntaught on-line, but the UI administration has not been so flexible. UI-AFT\nPresident Dale Graden reported that about 150 faculty have asked to teach\nsolely on-line, but their requests were declined. In the wake of the challenge\nabout high positivity rates, UI faculty can now choose on-line instruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BSU\u2019s McDonald was pleased that the\nadministration was so inclusive in consulting faculty and staff. My research\nshows that this has generally been the case across the nation. One headline\nasked: \u201cWill COVID Bring Power Back to the Faculty\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n SUNY Faculty Union\nGuaranties Safe Campuses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The United University Professionals\n(AFT), the largest faculty union in the nation, represents faculty and\nprofessional staff at the 29-campus State University of New York. The union has just reached an agreement with\nits administration on a comprehensive virus testing program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The AFT\u2019s detailed \u201cPlan to Safely\nReopen Schools and Communities\u201d is being used in school districts nation-wide.\nIf the Trump administration had controlled the virus as other countries have,\nthen our students, our workers, and our economy would be in far better shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nick Gier is professor emeritus at the\nUniversity of Idaho. He was president of the Higher Education Council of the\nIdaho Federation of Teachers from 2004 to 2020. Read his other columns on the\nvirus at http:\/\/nfgier.com<\/a> (search \u201ccoronavirus\u201d) Read his columns\non higher education at webpages.uidaho.edu\/ngier\/HighEdColumns.htm<\/a>. Email him at ngier006\u2202<\/span><\/span>gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3,200 New Cases Every Day from July to September The original sin was inviting the students back to campus\u2014Michael Innis-Jimenez, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa (2,690 cases) What we didn\u2019t model for is that people would choose to go to a party…<\/p>\n
3,200 New Cases Every Day from July to September<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n