Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

[Griff]

The guy from Pittston who hunts here was up over the weekend, he works on a cell block of old-timers. So far so good, let's hope it stays out of there.

[glatt]

My cousin's son, who is the same age as my son and traveled last summer with him and my sister on a whirlwind expedition through Ecuador, has been sent home from SUNY Oneonta. He's a freshman.
The campus closed amid covid concerns, and all students have been sent home.

He's been home for four days, and his test results just came back positive for covid. He hasn't got a single symptom. He feels just fine.

The family started off keeping distance from each other when he got back, but got more and more relaxed as the days went on. I imagine they are regretting that now. So now the entire household has to quarantine and wear masks around each other. Just waiting for symptoms to appear. Some may get it, some may not.

The grandmother, who lives across town, just got out of rehab after back surgery, and was going to be cared for by my cousin. She can't do that now that she has been exposed. Another relative is getting that job now.

I think it's smart of colleges to suspend in person classes when covid heats up on the campuses, but maybe sending the kids home to their families isn't such a great idea. At least not without strict controls.

[Griff]

It seems like on campus quarantine would make sense most places but the “city” of Oneonta probably lacks the beds if kids actually become ill.

[monster]

The colleges here mostly have quarantine dorms. There are three big college hotspots in Michigan. Not U of M ...yet..... they start classes later :/

[glatt]

And it turns out my information was bad. My cousin’s son has basically ALL the symptoms. My cousin must have told my mom that the boy had no symptoms 4 days ago when he came home.

[Ibby]

the local student paper just published a scathing opinion piece headlined UVM is destined to close over COVID-19. this section is particularly interesting:

In a July 2 email to all students, Provost Patricia Prelock said that all on-campus students would be required to participate in coronavirus testing twice a week for the entire fall semester.

Since then, UVM has scaled back that testing policy. According to UVM’s reopening website, the university will test students once a week for three weeks, until Sept. 18. The website does not specify why the policy was changed, or how often or whether students will be tested after that point.

I wondered at first why UVM chose to only test students until a specific date.

Then I remembered that Sept. 18 just so happens to be the last date on which students can withdraw from classes, meaning the last date on which students can leave the university for the semester without paying full tuition.

[glatt]

My son deferred enrollment for freshmen year there. He's off in the woods of NM instead.

It's really interesting to hear the stories of all his classmates, and who has taken a gap year, who has been exposed and is in quarantine, who has tested positive, and who is just off at college doing their best.

Dickinson, where my daughter is a senior, made the call earlier than most that they would be fully remote. So she is downstairs.

I'm so grateful that both my kids are in pretty safe environments while this gets sorted out.

[Griff]

My younger daughter is trying to work and complete her Masters, her practicum is getting complicated.

[xoxoxoBruce]

A German company has done a study using phone data among other things and came to the conclusion Sturgis caused 250,000 new Covid-19 cases. Not all of them in the 500,000 attendees, but the people they came in contact with traveling, plus the communities they went home to.

[Griff]

I saw that the other day and dismissed it. The numbers didn't seem to match reality at first glance.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Griff

My younger daughter is trying to work and complete her Masters, her practicum is getting complicated.

Pologirl is in a similar position. They replaced it with extra theory courses, but she didn't really have room for that. I'm concerned she's nearing breaking point. And they've increased the amount and intensity of teaching work they require from them in return for their stipend -which they're suggesting reducing.....

[sexobon]

UK's Johnson to levy 10,000 pound fine on COVID-19 rule-breakers

LONDON (Reuters) - People in England who break new rules requiring them to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19 will face a fine of up to 10,000 pounds ($12,914), Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday.

The rules will apply from Sept. 28 to anyone in England who tests positive for the virus or is notified by public health workers that they have been in contact with someone infectious.

"People who choose to ignore the rules will face significant fines," Johnson said in a statement.

Fines will start at 1,000 pounds for a first offence, rising to 10,000 pounds for repeat offenders or cases where employers threaten to sack staff who self-isolate rather than go to work.

Some low-income workers who suffer a loss of earnings will receive a 500 pound support payment, on top of other benefits such as sick pay to which they may be entitled....

[Carruthers]

A bit of context to the possible £10,000 fine as mentioned in Sexobon's post above:

Holidaymaker who ignored 14-day quarantine rule partly responsible for Bolton surge, says council leader

A holidaymaker who failed to self-isolate after returning to Bolton was partly responsible for the area’s “extreme spike” in coronavirus cases, the council leader has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday, Bolton Council leader, David Greenhalgh, said the Greater Manchester borough’s high rate had been linked back to pubs in the town and a “cohort of people” who refused to follow guidance.

The Conservative councillor said: “We had somebody who did not adhere to quarantine, did not stay the 14 days, literally went on a pub crawl with a number of mates.

“From that incident which took place over a weekend – (they) visited a number of premises – led to a large number of individual transmissions from that one person which you can imagine then is like holding back the tide because he then became symptomatic two days after they had all gone on this pub crawl.

“He was positive-tested the following day.

“That is four or five days where all the people he was in contact with have been going about their normal day-to-day business.”

Earlier this month, a 23-year-old man from Bolton was fined £1,000 for failing to self-isolate after returning from a holiday in Ibiza on August 20.

Greater Manchester Police said he had left his home multiple times and even hosted a house party.

It is not known whether the individual mentioned by Mr Greenhalgh was fined for breaching regulations.

Leaders in Bolton had been arguing for restrictions, placed on all of Greater Manchester, to be lifted at the end of August before the area saw a spike which led to it having the highest rates of the virus in the country.

It is now subject to tougher measures than other parts of Greater Manchester and the rest of England, with hospitality venues only allowed to operate as takeaways and ordered to shut by 10pm.

In early September, Health Secretary Matt Hancock blamed a surge in cases among young 'people in their 20s and 30s' socialising.

Mr Hancock said contact tracing had pinpointed outbreaks to several pubs in Bolton.

Mayor Andy Burnham has also previously said he was told someone coming back from holiday and going out drinking 'is linked to a large part of the problem'.

The latest figures on coronavirus show that Bolton still has the highest rate in the country and remains at 189.9 per 100,000 people.

Manchester Evening News

[Griff]

I attended a super-spreader for my deceased aunt this week, only a few Freedumb protestors in attendance, folks were mostly on their best behavior.

[Undertoad]

dead man posting