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If you aren't following what is happening with COVID-19 at UGA and in Athens, GA right now, let me give you a quick rundown. Here are the stats that we were provided yesterday. We only get updates once a week, and those stats only cover the previous week. (1/13)
Yes, that is 2336 new cases at UGA over the past two weeks. What about asymptomatic testing? Well, it shows that around 8% of the asymptomatic folks walking around on campus (and who were willing to be voluntarily tested) test positive for COVID-19 as well. (2/13)
UGA is located in Athens-Clarke County. Well, do you see that dark red spot in North Georgia on this DPH map? The one with more than 930 cases per 100,000 people reported in the last 14 days, surrounded by counties with far, far fewer cases? Yeah, that's Clarke, y'all. (3/13)
It's actually even worse than that looks. Clarke County actually had 1164 cases per 100,000 people (1511 total) reported in the last two weeks. Has it always been this bad here? Not even close. Let's look at a graph from the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). (4/13)
For most of the year, Clarke's numbers have been pretty low. Then, we saw a short-lived increase in July, followed by a sustained, rapid increase in the 7-day average that started right around August 19, the day before the first day of classes at UGA. (5/13)
This also largely lines up with a sustained spike in daily deaths from COVID-19 in Clarke County. (6/13)
To demonstrate this another way, on July 10, there had been 897 COVID-19 cases in Athens this year. By August 10, with students already starting to move back, we were at 2081. By September 9, the number was 4109. (7/13)
There seems to be a strong correlation between UGA's decision to bring students back to Athens this summer and an increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in town. How has the University System of Georgia responded? By ignoring UGA's impact on the community entirely. (8/13)
Instead, USG just released a statement blaming "off-campus activities" for the observed increases in the UGA numbers and ignored the fact that the increases at UGA have had ramifications for people in Athens. (9/13) https://news.uga.edu/usg-statement-on-uga-covid-numbers/
Leaving aside the fact that, unless there is evidence we aren't being shown, USG can't back up its claims about "off-campus activities," those activities are largely happening in Athens because USG and UGA decided that students should all be here in this community. (10/13)
That decision has likely placed people in this community at much higher risk for COVID-19 and placed those most vulnerable at risk of death as a result. The continued shirking of UGA's responsibility to its host community is just staggering. (11/13)
UGA has been an amazing place for me. I sincerely love my center, department, and school. My department head and dean are great and are doing the best they can for us given the circumstances. My colleagues are bold and fantastic. But USG and UGA continually disappoint. (12/13)
UGA is a public institution. As part of the state, it has an obligation to the human rights of our students, staff, faculty, and community. But our state government, USG, and UGA have all chosen to ignore those obligations. It is a shameful dereliction of duty. (13/13)
