|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
Getty Images
Education Dive
Is it safe for colleges to send students home for winter break?
Hallie Busta
Oct. 16, 2020
Dive Brief:
Residential colleges holding classes in-person this fall should take
precautions when sending students home for winter break, including
testing them for the coronavirus, public health experts say.
Many institutions that brought students back to campus planned to end
in-person instruction around Thanksgiving. But some had to move classes
online because of outbreaks on campus. Meanwhile, U.S. coronavirus case
counts have turned sharply upward.
More than one-quarter of the 2,900-plus colleges tracked by the College
Crisis Initiative planned for mostly or entirely in-person instruction
this fall. One-fifth held hybrid classes.
Dive Insight:
Bringing students to campus and keeping them there posed a logistical challenge, and sending them home will, too.
Some schools that opened in person have already had to close campus
because of outbreaks. This week, Keuka College, in New York, asked
students to leave who haven't tested positive for the virus or been
told to quarantine, after an uptick in cases tied to an off-campus
party. Other students will follow once they are cleared.
Many other colleges have moved classes online at least temporarily because of outbreaks.
Public health officials advise colleges to build precautions into their plans for sending students home for winter break.
"You're still concerned about the possibility of silent spreaders,"
said A. David Paltiel, a health policy professor at Yale University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 40% of
coronavirus infections are asymptomatic, and about half of coronavirus
transmission occurs before symptom onset.
"One policy that clearly won't work is simply saying, 'Well as long as
you're symptom-free you can go,'" Paltiel said. "That's like sending a
little ticking time bomb home for Thanksgiving. You don't want to do
that."
Testing students before they leave can help. Paltiel suggests testing students twice with a period of quarantine in between.
When to test students is also a consideration. "You don't want to test
people on Tuesday and then give them a result as they're getting to the
airport," said Preeti Malani, chief health officer at the University of
Michigan.
Malani said the university has begun discussing steps for sending
students home as planned at Thanksgiving. Exit testing will likely be
part of that strategy, as will guidance about how students can safely
integrate into their families' households.
Those heading back to multigenerational homes or who have family
members with comorbidities for COVID-19 are of particular concern, said
Stephen Kissler, a research fellow studying infectious diseases at
Harvard University, during a call with media on Wednesday.
Colleges can help those students by providing housing over the
holidays, Kissler said. Officials also can arm students headed home
with public health messaging about how to keep safe amid the pandemic,
Kissler added.
The CDC advises against sending infected students home if they must travel far from campus.
It's a risk to send any student home who tested positive for the
coronavirus and is not through their quarantine period by the time
break starts, said Amber D'Souza, an epidemiology professor at Johns
Hopkins University. "In the ideal scenario, those people stay in their
dorm until the quarantine period would be over so that they don't
expose their families."
Colleges can help to reinforce the importance for all students of
following safety protocols such as keeping social networks small,
washing their hands, wearing facemasks and social distancing, D'Souza
said.
"We've spent so much time thinking about how can we reopen schools, and
before we know it, Thanksgiving break is here," she said. "It's an
important thing to think through how can we in our new normal do this
as safely as possible."
|
|
|
|
