US coronavirus: Colleges and universities stop classes in person and start supervising campus after emergence in cases

Universities in at least 19 states have reported outbreaks, despite health protocols on campus. Many outbreaks are linked to large group meetings such as parties, leading some schools to suspend students and organizations for breaking social distance rules on and off campus.

The University of Notre Dame and the University of Alabama both have seen increases in Covid-19 cases on their campuses. Notre Dame has moved to online instruction, according to her website. Meanwhile, local and university police at the University of Alabama will work together to monitor bars, restaurants and housing on campus to ensure compliance with Covid-19 ordinances and university guidelines, said University President Stuart R. Bell.

The University of Kentucky began a second phase of testing Sunday after a roughly 3% positivity rate for Covid-19 among fraternities and sororities in initial testing, which is three times the roughly 1% positivity rate for the general student population. And the University of Central Michigan has threatened to find or lock up students who are hosting large gatherings.

Penn State stopped this second fraternity this week for social distancing violations, according to a statement from the university’s Sunday.

Pi Kappa Alpha was detained for “hosting a large social gathering” on Saturday, which included about 70 students, the university said. The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity was earlier detained from campus following a August 18 meeting that outlined school policies, the university said.

Despite the rise in cases, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto warned students to blame the higher positivity rate on the school campus.

“Let me be clear: this is not an act to accuse the students who live in these facilities or who belong to these organizations,” he wrote. “We believe a number of factors associated with shared living spaces are likely to have contributed to the high positivity rates in these homes.”

Concerns and questions about the new school year

On the K-12 front, school districts are still trying to figure out how to navigate the academic year during the pandemic.

Many schools across the country have implemented increased measures to protect students and staff from the virus, even though researchers are still investigating how the virus spreads among young children.

The CDC encouraged schools to work closely with local and public health leaders when there is an infected person on campus. But instead of shutting everything down immediately for a long period, the guidelines said one option is an initial short-term suspension and cancellation of events and activities after school so that public health leaders can get the time they need to determine how widespread the infections are.

If schools use a pod system, and keep certain students together, administrators may only close certain parts of the building where an infected person may have been.

A school district in Michigan canceled all classes and activities after school hours for Monday – its first day of school – after receiving “a threat” on Sunday, according to a warning on the district’s website.

The Leslie Public Schools District did not provide details on the nature of the threat, but said it will work with law enforcement to assess the threat.

Convalescent plasma for Covid-19 treatment

Convalescent plasma is made from the blood of people recovering from Covid-19, and it has shown some success in two other deadly coronaviruses: MERS and SARS. It has also been used to treat flu and Ebola.

The agency said it concluded that it could be effective in treating Covid-19 and that “the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.”

However, some experts say that there is not enough solid data to support the use of plasma.

“The problem is, we don’t really have enough data to really understand how effective convalescent plasma is,” said Drs. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University and a medical analyst at CNN.

Art Caplan, founding head of the Department of Medical Ethics at the NYU School of Medicine, told CNN that he was concerned about whether there was a large enough supply of recovery time plasma, which requires donations from Covid- 19 survivors.

“We’re going to get a golden rush to plasma, with patients demanding it and doctors demanding it for their patients,” Caplan said.

Trump administration officials cited a Mayo Clinic-led study that showed a 35% improvement in survival among people given the highest doses of treatment early in their illness compared to those treated later.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn says studies have shown that plasma recovery is safe and treatment has been given to patients with infectious diseases for more than a hundred years.

“There was a very good reason why this could work,” Hahn said at a White House briefing, calling in part Sunday to announce the authorization for emergency use. “In the independent judgment of experts and expert scientists at FDA who have reviewed the entire data … more than a dozen published studies … those scientists have concluded that Covid-19 rejuvenating plasma is safe and shows promising effectiveness, and thereby meeting the criteria for an emergency use authorization. “