everyone seems to be fretting about what to do with colleges if there is a COV outbreak

alas, like so many things in covid, the ill conceived panic response seems to be winning out.

they are picking the worst possible policy. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/17/us/coronavirus-college-university/index.html

cov-19 is less threatening to college age students than a middling bad flu

having they come down with it is the sort of issue colleges have dealt with every year for hundreds of years

157 deaths in 42.7mm population 15-24.

3.7 per million.

typical college deaths are 224/mm/yr

based on some studies done, the PCR test for cov has high false positive rates. (up to 30%, but likely about 8%)

it can also pick up non-viable virus fragments for months after a patient has recovered mistaking them for infected.

and uni's are using antigen tests as well.

so you have possible clusters, but also lots of possible mistakes.

but let's assume they are real. now what?

college is the perfect place to deal with cov in a low risk fashion. the group is young, healthy, and concentrated

this is ideal for low risk herd immunity generation

it's already basically a quarantine. what's the worst thing you could do to enhance spread?

yup. send them home

you're literally taking a cluster and spreading it all over the state, country, and world

you're sending them home to live near more vulnerable people.

seriously?

this is what we did last time, remember?

it's what certain internet cats were warning against back in the middle of march.

and it's as stupid now as it was then.

it will reduce herd immunity formation and increase risk and deaths. https://twitter.com/boriquagato/status/1239915113869479937?s=20

it's the action of cowardly university administrators and presidents who are more concerned about bad press and liability than science, education, or good epidemiological practice.

we have become a nation of frail cowards and it has led us to do the wrong thing, over and over.

and it's time for it to stop.

for a college student, this is the flu, and not even a bad one. for a college athlete, it's a nothing burger.

can we please stop acting like this is ebola?