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~1,000 @Illinois_Alma students have tested (+) for COVID-19 -- a week into the semester.
Officials say mass testing means they’ve identified the problem early enough to intervene. Others say it's time to close down.
via me & @LeeVGaines @ILNewsroom https://illinoisnewsroom.org/u-of-i-officials-poor-choices-made-by-a-few-students-could-get-everyone-sent-home/
Officials say mass testing means they’ve identified the problem early enough to intervene. Others say it's time to close down.
via me & @LeeVGaines @ILNewsroom https://illinoisnewsroom.org/u-of-i-officials-poor-choices-made-by-a-few-students-could-get-everyone-sent-home/
Chancellor Robert Jones says a few students who threw parties and ignored directives to quarantine or isolate caused super-spreader events — leading to the spike in cases, creating "the very real possibility of ending an in-person semester for all of us here at Illinois."
In an effort to get the spread of the virus under control, Jones ordered students today to significantly limit in-person activities for the next two weeks.. to attending classes, COVID-19 testing, shopping for groceries, work, religious services, MD appts, solo outdoor activities
Previous models predicting ~700 cases for the entire semester made “conservative worst-case assumptions” about student behavior (party-going, mask-wearing), but did NOT take into consideration that some students would make “willful violations of public health directives.”
Campus modelers are saying they're now waiting to see “how exactly students will respond to increased pressure from the administration” before they share revised predictions about what will happen if campus remains open this semester.
U of I epidemiologist Becky Smith says, while the case count appears high compared to other campuses, @Illinois_Alma is catching the outbreak much earlier than any other university she has seen.
Smith: “Remember that we’re testing everybody. Our peer institutions are only testing symptomatic people & then doing follow up. So their 100 cases is 100 symptomatic cases. The majority of our cases are asymptomatic. So the # of cases we have is the iceberg. They have the tip.”
Awais Vaid w/ @CU_PublicHealth says most cases are from private residences, dorms and frat/sorority houses where people are socializing indoors.
~80% active cases in the county are UI-affiliated & there's no evidence students are infecting people outside the campus community.
~80% active cases in the county are UI-affiliated & there's no evidence students are infecting people outside the campus community.
U of I officials say they’re stepping up enforcement of COVID-19 rules on campus. Two students and one fraternity have already been suspended while 100 more students and organizations are being investigated.
The U of I is also launching an initiative, known as Shield Team 30, to more quickly identify and contact undergraduate students who have tested positive, instruct them to isolate and answer questions they may have.
Friends of COVID-positive students have relayed that two beliefs are driving their peers to violate COVID-19 rules, says Smith:
“We’re going to get shut down anyway — have our fun while we can."
"It’s not going to affect me... None of us on campus are going to get sick."
“We’re going to get shut down anyway — have our fun while we can."
"It’s not going to affect me... None of us on campus are going to get sick."
Asked whether the campus takes any responsibility for the high case count, Chancellor Jones did not directly answer the question, instead reiterating the efforts that the U of I has made to attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus.
"Things are not as bad as some of our peers"
"Things are not as bad as some of our peers"
Some U of I employees took to social media to express their concern over campus officials’ decision to threaten expulsion to those who don’t comply with campus policies: https://twitter.com/Prof_Harley/status/1301314080519708673
U of I anthropology professor Kate Clancy accused U of I officials, in a series of tweets, of not listening enough to social scientists and humanists, who would have warned against reopening campus: https://twitter.com/KateClancy/status/1301303118341210114
Public health experts have cautioned that campuses turning to punitive measures to force compliance could find such an approach drives behavior underground, making it more risky.
via @NPR's @ElissaNadworny https://www.npr.org/2020/08/31/907756835/preventing-college-parties-shame-and-blame-dont-work-but-beer-pong-outside-might
via @NPR's @ElissaNadworny https://www.npr.org/2020/08/31/907756835/preventing-college-parties-shame-and-blame-dont-work-but-beer-pong-outside-might
