A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the College of William and Mary’s mistakes with regard to operating in the COVID-19 pandemic. To be clear, there are plenty of things that we, as a community, should address. As students — and in some cases taxpayers — contributing hefty amounts in tuition, we should be open to pointing out the College’s errors when we see them. At the same time, though, it is important for us as the College community to acknowledge successes where we can.
At the beginning of September, a COVID-19 outbreak at James Madison University led to the decision to send their on-campus population of over 20,000 home, as all instruction moved online. In Blacksburg, the number of positive cases at Virginia Tech have recently climbed up to about 1,000. Closer to home, and less dramatically, one percent of on-campus students at Virginia Commonwealth University have been reported as having “active cases” of COVID-19. Meanwhile, here at the College, our number of on-campus positive cases reached the teens this weekend — of the almost 7,500 students tested, .18 percent received a positive result. That number is one-fifth of one percent of the student population at the College. Just looking at these numbers should give us all some relief, as well as some hope for the rest of the semester. Of course, our relatively low numbers do not justify disregarding any of the rules the College has put in place. Practices like social distancing and mask-wearing are what is protecting the other 99 percent of us from contracting COVID-19, and by extension protecting our families when we return home and even people we’re walking past at the grocery store in Williamsburg. Low COVID-19 rates do not constitute an excuse to be thoughtless or inconsiderate. In addition, for all I know, we could be at the precipice of a COVID-19 outbreak. Just because positive tests are scarce now does not mean they will stay that way. Read the full story by The Flat Hat HERE.
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SourceThe Flat Hat |