HIS VIEW: An explosion of COVID-19 on our campuses
The original sin was inviting the students back to campus
—Michael Innis-Jimenez, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa (2,302 cases)
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A Trump-inspired premature opening of American businesses and schools, primarily in the South, led to a record number of virus cases and deaths in June. Memorial Day celebrations and travel were the primary drivers.
Trump’s fatuous claim that “we have turned the corner,” belies a general Labor Day spike and an explosion of cases in schools, colleges, and universities. Virus cases are up 17 percent two weeks after the holiday and deaths have increased 5 percent.
Recent surveys show that Wisconsin is the only blue state among 11 states that have the most cases per capita, and that is most likely because the University of Wisconsin-Madison has 1,100 cases and has suspended in-person instruction. Two dorms are now in quarantine, and the county commissioners are considering sending all dorm residents home.
Other authorities, including the White House’s Debra Birx, are warning that sending students home without testing them will only further spread the virus. At the University of Illinois, the administration has locked down its dormitories and allows students out only for classes and medical emergencies. Faced with a tripling of cases, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville has run out of quarantine space and has told some uninfected students to move out of their dorms.
At the University of Arizona, all students on campus and within a specified perimeter are being told to shelter in place for 14 days. Threatening tougher sanctions, university president Robert C. Robbins declared: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
An incomplete survey of 1,600 campuses has identified more than 88,000 cases and 64 deaths. A more complete study using cell phone and GPS data concluded that 3,200 extra cases per day were found in college towns from mid-July to mid-September.
About 40 percent of college and university campuses were set to open for in-person classes, but only 25 percent have met that goal and the rest have gone to online teaching. Nine of 15 major public universities have switched to virtual instruction.
Pittsburgh Regional Health released a survey of public health experts on how colleges should respond to virus outbreaks. One of the report’s conclusions was: “Close fraternity houses. Period.”
Officials at Indiana University-Bloomington requested that all Greek houses close for the semester, but negotiations led to suspending 40 and locking down the rest. After a party at the Acacia Fraternity house, 88 percent of its members tested positive.
On Sept. 9, I reported a large unmasked gathering at UI’s Lambda Chi Alpha. I did not receive return calls from the Dean of Students nor from city or campus police. Also, President Scott Green did not get back to me after an initial promise to investigate.
The UI said that it would publish athletic case numbers by Aug. 31, but it has yet to do so. ESPN surveyed 65 athletic powerhouses and one-third did not provide coronavirus protocols nor did they release case numbers. This information is imperative because 15 percent of college athletes have been diagnosed with myocarditis.
In his column (Sept. 5) Chuck Pezeshki declared that because there have been no local hospitalizations or deaths, we should not be worried. Since then there have been three virus admissions in Whitman County. Furthermore, Dr. Natalie Lambert has conducted a COVID-19 “Long Hauler” survey and she has found 98 long-lasting conditions due to the virus, many in young people.
The first round of testing at the UI found 34 cases, but after a Labor Day spike, the total is now 126 — 41 percent of the cases in Latah County. WSU now has over 900 cases and Pullman made national headlines for college towns that have the highest per capita numbers.
From Sept. 6-12 the percentage of those who tested positive in Whitman County was an alarming 19 percent. The UI positivity rate has now climbed to 4.7 percent, just under the 5 percent that the CDC recommends for safe activities. Following national trends, the largest group of new infections for Whitman and Latah County is people from 18-29.
Nick Gier was president of the Higher Education Council of the Idaho Federation of Teachers from 2004 to 2020. Email him at ngier006@gmail.com.
