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Post by rgs318 on Nov 5, 2021 16:40:02 GMT -5
Is that supposed to be new?
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Post by longsuffering on Nov 5, 2021 17:05:57 GMT -5
I wonder if there are Federal/State Stimulus/American Recovery Act/Covid Relief funds of some sort that HC is tapping to defray the frightening high cost of mass testing?
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Post by mm67 on Nov 5, 2021 17:19:23 GMT -5
Is that supposed to be new?
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Post by hcpride on Nov 5, 2021 17:32:10 GMT -5
I wonder if there are Federal/State Stimulus/American Recovery Act/Covid Relief funds of some sort that HC is tapping to defray the frightening high cost of mass testing? That would be one explanation for continuing (endlessly?) the mass asymptomatic Covid testing of a fully vaccinated and indoor-masked student body. The only thing sillier than a lack of a metric for halting the mass asymptomatic Covid testing at HC would be the lack of a metric for ending the indoor masking on a fully vaccinated campus. I’m sure we have some sort of metric. Administrators and staffers have metrics for everything. Right?
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Nov 5, 2021 17:34:32 GMT -5
Even if they've reached herd immunity on Mt. St. James, Worcester has not, and there are hundreds of students living off-campus, many in apartments HC has leased .More staff (also highly vaccinated) tested positive in the past ten days than students: 3 staff, 1 student. _______________ In searching for the masking policy just now, I found this communication from a week ago. So, not so much the vaccine that is preventing the spread, but rather the masking policy? (I think we all now realize that vaccinated folks tend to get and spread the virus with some regularity - so much for those vax passports a few locales adopted). One wonders, on a different front (pbob5's question), what is the metric for pulling the plug on the asymptomatic testing at a fully vaccinated and indoor masked campus? Understanding it is Covid time and logic is out the window but it would be comforting to know there is a rubric (and even more so to know what the rubric is). Massachusetts has a metric of sorts. With a fully vaccinated population (or nearly so) of college students and staff, and frequent testing of this population, the positive test rate has held steady at 0.13-0.15 percent for weeks. Many, perhaps most, of the positives are asymptomatic. For those residents of Massachusetts who are not high-ed students or staff, but who are getting tested, the positive test rate is currently 26x higher than the higher ed rate. I suspect that many or even most of the non higher-ed population that is being tested is symptomatic. Simple surveillance testing is not being done, so the number of asymptomatic, infected individuals in this population is unknown. That said, one could fairly conclude that the true infection rare (including the asymptomatic) in the general, non-student population might be 50x, or even 100x higher than the higher ed positive rate. And with lingering persistence of the virus in the general population, there will be outbreaks such as what happened in Provincetown over 4th of July, and which, in one sense, is not that different from a college campus with the partying and socializing. Russia is experiencing its fourth wave, the worst yet. This week is a country-wide workers' holiday. most Russians told to stay home. The announced death rate is about 2.5x the current U.S. rate, and which is certainly [very(?)] understated. But the majority of the Russian population has yet to be vaccinated, and the Kremlin leaders are soiling their pants. In this country, there is the recent example of Idaho. A state with a comparatively low vaccination rate, and relatively restriction free when it comes to masking mandates etc. Idaho experienced a severe COVID outbreak, overwhelming its health care system. Residents of Idaho who were seriously ill were sent (or took themselves) to Washington state for care and treatment, and overwhelming hospital resources in eastern Washington. Folks in Washington state are none too happy, as hospitals curtail services for Washingtonians to treat unvaccinated residents of Idaho. Two weeks ago, the number of new cases and deaths in Idaho were at levels that paralleled the rates in Massachusetts in the dark spring of 2020.
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Post by longsuffering on Nov 5, 2021 17:52:42 GMT -5
So, not so much the vaccine that is preventing the spread, but rather the masking policy? (I think we all now realize that vaccinated folks tend to get and spread the virus with some regularity - so much for those vax passports a few locales adopted). One wonders, on a different front (pbob5's question), what is the metric for pulling the plug on the asymptomatic testing at a fully vaccinated and indoor masked campus? Understanding it is Covid time and logic is out the window but it would be comforting to know there is a rubric (and even more so to know what the rubric is). Massachusetts has a metric of sorts. With a fully vaccinated population (or nearly so) of college students and staff, and frequent testing of this population, the positive test rate has held steady at 0.13-0.15 percent for weeks. Many, perhaps most, of the positives are asymptomatic. For those residents of Massachusetts who are not high-ed students or staff, but who are getting tested, the positive test rate is currently 26x higher than the higher ed rate. I suspect that many or even most of the non higher-ed population that is being tested is symptomatic. Simple surveillance testing is not being done, so the number of asymptomatic, infected individuals in this population is unknown. That said, one could fairly conclude that the true infection rare (including the asymptomatic) in the general, non-student population might be 50x, or even 100x higher than the higher ed positive rate. And with lingering persistence of the virus in the general population, there will be outbreaks such as what happened in Provincetown over 4th of July, and which, in one sense, is not that different from a college campus with the partying and socializing. Russia is experiencing its fourth wave, the worst yet. This week is a country-wide workers' holiday. most Russians told to stay home. The announced death rate is about 2.5x the current U.S. rate, and which is certainly [very(?)] understated. But the majority of the Russian population has yet to be vaccinated, and the Kremlin leaders are soiling their pants. In this country, there is the recent example of Idaho. A state with a comparatively low vaccination rate, and relatively restriction free when it comes to masking mandates etc. Idaho experienced a severe COVID outbreak, overwhelming its health care system. Residents of Idaho who were seriously ill were sent (or took themselves) to Washington state for care and treatment, and overwhelming hospital resources in eastern Washington. Folks in Washington state are none too happy, as hospitals curtail services for Washingtonians to treat unvaccinated residents of Idaho. Two weeks ago, the number of new cases and deaths in Idaho were at levels that paralleled the rates in Massachusetts in the dark spring of 2020. Unfortunately it is the people who don't trust Putin who are not getting vaccinated. If it was the other way around he could see his support dying off.
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Post by rgs318 on Nov 5, 2021 18:05:14 GMT -5
Their "Sputnik" vaccine is accepted by almost no one outside of Russia.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Nov 5, 2021 18:08:25 GMT -5
I wonder if there are Federal/State Stimulus/American Recovery Act/Covid Relief funds of some sort that HC is tapping to defray the frightening high cost of mass testing? Holy Cross cannot tap into it, per se. The college has to apply for the grant, the amount of which is based on a quasi-formula. IIRC, the distribution formula is biased toward institutions that have large numbers of economically disadvantaged students, as the sense of Congress was that such students would be most adversely affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic. The reimbursement of COVID-related institutional costs is fairly broad. Regrettably, the funds can't be used to defray the cost of a new rink.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Nov 20, 2021 9:56:14 GMT -5
IIRC, HC received about $1.5 million from the first of the COVID laws that had monies in COVID aid specifically for colleges and universities. Under the law, 50 percent of the monies received by HC were for additional financial aid to students whose financial circumstances were adversely affected by the pandemic. There is a subsequent, ever larger pot of money. The total is now $76.2 billion!!! For a discussion on how the money is distributed, see this GAO report. www.gao.gov/blog/higher-education-covid-19-relief-funding-who-got-what-and-what-went-wrongI have my doubts, given the economic recovery from the depths of the pandemic, that all $76 billion can be distributed according to the statutory provisions: i.e., 50 percent must go to supplemental financial aid for students. If significant sums remain unallocated, perhaps Congress will amend the distribution formula and allow colleges and universities to recoup more of their COVID-related expenses, e.g., COVID testing. _____________ The positive test count for HC students is currently so low, three student positives in the last 13 days, that HC is now allowing overnight visitors to sleep in the dorms, provided the guests are fully vaccinated or have a negative PCR test taken within three days pre sleep-over.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 15, 2021 18:23:33 GMT -5
Over the past 10 days (through Dec 15th), 16 students and six staff have tested positive. The positive test rate at HC is running at 0.25-0.3 percent. The positive test rate for students and staff at all colleges and universities in Massachusetts is about 0.55 - 0.6 percent.
Holy Cross performed 12,750 tests over the past 14 days.
As of Dec 15th, 97 percent of the students and 96 percent of the staff are fully vaccinated. Holy Cross held clinics for booster shots during the first ten days of December, and ran out of Pfizer booster shots, and was nearly out of Moderna shots. I suspect very few students had received booster shots before these clinics opened. Clearly, nearly all / all of HC's recent positive cases are of the fully vaccinated.
The weekly total of Higher ed testing in Massachusetts is over 250,000 tests per week, Holy Cross testing represents about 2.5 percent of that Higher Ed total. Higher ed testing to date (about 12.5 million tests) constitutes over a third of all PCR tests to date n Massachusetts.
Because of the high volume of Higher ed testing, the Massachusetts positivity rate is a composite number with a weighted value assigned to the Higher ed testing. This results in a lower positive test rate for Massachusetts, as a whole. The positive test rate for individuals who are not students or staff in Higher ed is running about 7 percent. After Higher ed test results are blended in, the 'official' positivity rate for Massachusetts is about 5 percent. I believe Massachusetts is the only state that does this.
Holy Cross does not identify how many of the positive cases are asymptomatic, have mild symptoms, or had progressed to a serious illness. From the number of active cases, and the report on isolation capacity available, it appears that all of the Holy Cross cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 15, 2021 18:29:55 GMT -5
Don’t know if HC is planning this but Princeton is now demanding that all of its undergrads have their first boosters by January 31st 2022.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Dec 15, 2021 18:44:08 GMT -5
Don’t know if HC is planning this but Princeton is now demanding that all of its undergrads have their first boosters by January 31st 2022. Probably just need a second booster to be safe.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Dec 15, 2021 20:39:47 GMT -5
Don’t know if HC is planning this but Princeton is now demanding that all of its undergrads have their first boosters by January 31st 2022. We're now heading towards the phase where even those that went out and got vaccinated become....unvaccinated, all of a sudden.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 16, 2021 8:56:40 GMT -5
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Post by hc2020 on Dec 16, 2021 13:19:49 GMT -5
Don’t be surprised if HC follows the rest of the likely trend of moving towards highly restrictive COVID policies for the spring semester, with perhaps the return of a remote learning platform. Of course, none of this will likely become public until AFTER HC has collected spring tuition payments and most students have been locked in financially for purposes of acquiescing to these new restrictions.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Dec 16, 2021 13:29:02 GMT -5
I think we've entered the "total lunacy" phase of COVID restrictions.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 16, 2021 14:08:38 GMT -5
I think we've entered the "total lunacy" phase of COVID restrictions. On a number of fronts. My college daughter (who is not at risk) was directed to take over 75 asymptomatic Covid tests. And masked. And ‘fully’ vaxed. And then ‘boostered’. And isolated. And otherwise severely restricted. All under her college’s mandates. I’d say we hit total lunacy about 75 asymptomatic tests ago.
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Post by rgs318 on Dec 16, 2021 14:36:54 GMT -5
I am sorry for her and for you. I hope you both come through this with a minimum of extra crap through which to wade.
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Post by newfieguy74 on Dec 16, 2021 14:50:51 GMT -5
Don’t know if HC is planning this but Princeton is now demanding that all of its undergrads have their first boosters by January 31st 2022. We're now heading towards the phase where even those that went out and got vaccinated become....unvaccinated, all of a sudden. But being fully vaccinated (i.e. two shots) doesn't give you permanent protection. I'm neither a physician nor a scientist but I've read that two shots gives you 30% protection against Omicron and the booster brings that to 90%. Regardless of the variant it's my understanding that the protection from the vaccination wanes over time, hence the belief by many that we're all going to have to get periodic (annual, semi-annual?) boosters.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Dec 16, 2021 15:47:00 GMT -5
We're now heading towards the phase where even those that went out and got vaccinated become....unvaccinated, all of a sudden. But being fully vaccinated (i.e. two shots) doesn't give you permanent protection. I'm neither a physician nor a scientist but I've read that two shots gives you 30% protection against Omicron and the booster brings that to 90%. Regardless of the variant it's my understanding that the protection from the vaccination wanes over time, hence the belief by many that we're all going to have to get periodic (annual, semi-annual?) boosters. I think you're right about the annual boosters. And I plan on getting one believe it or not. More for peace of mind of those around me. More antibodies = less viral load. Was actually going to get it today but I've been feeling sick the last couple days and dont want to combine this cold with the vax after-effects. The Omricon fear mongering is absolutely bananas. More people worldwide have died falling out of bed the past month than have died of this variant.
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Post by hcpride on Dec 16, 2021 18:36:56 GMT -5
We're now heading towards the phase where even those that went out and got vaccinated become....unvaccinated, all of a sudden. But being fully vaccinated (i.e. two shots) doesn't give you permanent protection. I'm neither a physician nor a scientist but I've read that two shots gives you 30% protection against Omicron and the booster brings that to 90%. Regardless of the variant it's my understanding that the protection from the vaccination wanes over time, hence the belief by many that we're all going to have to get periodic (annual, semi-annual?) boosters. I know Princeton (and probably others) just instituted a booster requirement in response to Omicron and pols have been pushing the same but… A new study out of Columbia University says the Omicron variant is “markedly resistant” to vaccines and boosters might not do much to help, spelling bad news for the country as Omicron spreads and COVID-19 cases rise nationally.
“A striking feature of this variant is the large number of spike mutations that pose a threat to the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapies,” according to the study authored by more than 20 scientists at Columbia and the University of Hong Kong.nypost.com/2021/12/16/columbia-university-finds-omicron-vaccine-resistance/(This is not to suggest Omicron is a deadly variant.)
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 16, 2021 21:33:18 GMT -5
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Dec 17, 2021 7:12:35 GMT -5
HC has published the testing schedule for students who will be on campus over semester break. Testing looks to be once-a-week, rather than twice a week. All students will be tested on January 23 and 24, at the start of the spring semester. ________ HC positive test percentage for the seven days ending Dec 16 was 0.22 percent, with ten students testing positive over that period. The last day for exams is Saturday, so it would appear HC has avoided an Omicron outbreak.
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Post by matunuck on Dec 17, 2021 7:52:02 GMT -5
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Post by HC92 on Dec 17, 2021 8:17:47 GMT -5
1. I am boostered. 2. I don’t trust anything anybody tells me in the news about any of this. 3. Cornell has had a ton of cases recently and almost everyone there is vaccinated and masked. 4. The official school statement says: "Virtually every case of the omicron variant to date has been found in fully vaccinated students, a portion of whom had also received a booster shot." 5. Initial reports said that a third of the Cornell cases were among the boostered. I can’t find that type of info online anymore which suggests that either: 1) my googling skills need work, 2) I’m misremembering, 3) it’s unreliable and not being reported at that level of detail, or 4) somebody doesn’t want it out there that a lot of boostered people are still testing positive.
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