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In reply to the discussion: Trump White House Warns Colleges: Don't Send Your COVID-Infected Students Home! [View all]genxlib
(5,524 posts)I suppose I am a bit sensitive about the subject.
I will confess that I have been a little hypocritical about wanting this for my daughter while saying that younger schools and businesses need to be more cautious.
My thinking is that they are going to be mostly all OK at that age. They are not immune from it but the incidence of serious outcomes is very low. And I am not convinced that the few who might get serious cases would be any worse statistically than what they might face at home. Whether that be from COVID in their home areas or from other things that could go wrong for them. Ultimately, that is where we landed with my daughter, the risks of going to school were less than the risks of depression that she was facing at home. Just the simple fact that my daughter drives a car when at home but not at school changes her risk profile.
Part of all of this is that I have been impressed with my daughters university (Ohio State) They have taken it very seriously and have the strongest safety protocols that I have seen anywhere outside of a health care setting. The University has expelled over 200 students in a crack down to try and get them serious about it. They have a significant testing protocol with fast turnaround so they do have a chance to make it work. They are tracking stats here if you are interested https://safeandhealthy.osu.edu/dashboard
Much of the outrage that is being discussed right now has to do with discovering cases that were previously never discovered. They tested everyone that came on campus and found kids that had no idea they were carrying. They have had some rise in the second week but I would expect that. Week 3&4 will be crucial. I give them less than a 50% chance to make it through the semester but I think they deserved the chance to try.
To tell you the truth, even if they get sent home in a month, I think it will have been worth it (assuming there are no critical cases with bad outcomes). The idea of starting college as a freshman with no friends, no connections, no community etc. was going to make it very hard. If she comes home, she will at least have established a network of support that can get her through until she can return.
The bottom line is that there are no good options. Every single scenario sucks. We were just trying to find the one that sucked the least for us.