|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
Town & Country Magazine
The Hechinger Report
One university’s students step in to track Covid-19 cases
Delece Smith-Barrow
September 3
Arizona State University, one of the largest universities in the
country, brought students back to campus this fall, but many of them
don’t feel safe. Because of inconsistent information from the
university about cases of Covid-19 on campus, students and faculty have
taken matters into their own hands. They have created social media
accounts to crowdsource information, however imperfect, to track the
number of coronavirus cases on campuses, show where students are
partying and offer tips for staying safe.
The university sends infrequent emails about how Covid-19 is tracked on
campus, according to many students and faculty members, who also say it
does not have a robust dashboard for Covid-19 updates.
“What do we have to do to get an ACTUAL dashboard with full (and
anonymized/aggregated, of course) #COVID19 stats by campus location?”
the ASU Community of Care Coalition tweeted on August 28.
Students and faculty are using Twitter to crowdsource information about
what’s happening locally. One group launched ASUcovidTracker in August,
and now more than 3,000 people follow the account. It has screenshots
of emails from administrators about how many students are living in
isolation dorms and from off-campus student apartment complexes about
the number of positive cases, plus videos of students partying. It also
records information about new cases through a Google Form. The account
says it uses screenshots of test results to verify cases and then
tweets information about new cases.
Another Twitter account, the ASU Community of Care Coalition, launched
in August to advocate for a safer campus. The coalition is “a concerned
group of ASU faculty, staff, and graduate students,” according to one
of its first tweets. Along with writing a letter urging postponement of
in-person instruction, the coalition shares useful articles and tips
from the community about possible outbreaks.
Catherine Novotny, a senior studying political science at ASU, said
although it’s not a perfect system, she relies on word of mouth and the
ASUcovidTracker to stay informed. “Information is really what's gonna
keep us safest right now,” Novotny said. “There’s a lot of confusion.
And I think that just makes everything worse.”
ASU recently said there are 803 known cases among students and faculty
and that the institution cannot inform students if a person in their
class has contracted Covid-19. In August, ASU released on its website a
misleading calculation of the percentage of positive tests. Instead of
dividing the total number of positive tests by the number of tests
conducted, the standard way to calculate the number, the university
divided the number of tests by the total student and faculty
population. If calculated in accordance with the Johns Hopkins
guidelines, the percentage would have been double.
Students, parents and teachers in the comments deliberated among
themselves in attempts to clear their confusion about the number of
positive tests. “[ASU] shouldn't require people to read all the past
updates along with the newest to get a clear picture of what’s
happening,” one user wrote.
One user on Twitter asked the university to comment on an anonymous tip
about how ASU can’t inform students if someone in their class has
tested positive. ASU responded, “There are strict privacy rules, based
on Federal law, about sharing students’ personal medical info.” An FAQ
page on the ASU website reads, “Only close contacts or high-risk
exposures (less than 6 feet distance for greater than 10 minutes) will
be asked to quarantine as a result of their possible exposure.”
But this information is buried toward the bottom of the page, and it
has caused students and faculty to question the policy because there
has been no widespread enforcement of social distancing in classrooms.
“When you release misleading data, when you hide data, you’re
undermining basic public trust in science and health information and
public health,” said David Boyles, an English instructor at ASU.
“Everything happening here is like a microcosm of what’s happening at
the state level in Arizona, what's happening at the national level with
the Trump administration where we don't have clear, consistent
science-based fact-based information about what's going on.”
|
|
|
|
