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Sep 2020
4:17pm, 20 Sep 2020
18,728 posts
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EvilPixie
Will the students achieve the start of herd immunity?
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Sep 2020
4:24pm, 20 Sep 2020
3,348 posts
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Little Miss Happy
I heard something about pool sample testing - possibly on C4 news in the week - I think it was being suggested as a way forward for schools.
The uni situation worries me. Yes a lot of the teaching will be online but no matter what you tell students and no matter what 'contracts' they agree to I feel there will be a significant number that socialise outside their bubble or course. Whilst things can be policed to an extent in halls there is no one watching over them in private accommodation. As jda recalls Fresher's Flu runs rampant at the start of each semester so what will happen with CV19 and it might not be the majority of students who end up seriously ill but what about the lecturers, support staff etc?
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Sep 2020
4:27pm, 20 Sep 2020
1,511 posts
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Grast_girl
For my course, I would say that the students will be in uni for about half the contact hours they usually would be, and probably 80% of those could be done online, if needed, without considerable detrimental effects on learning. If I had kids going off to uni I'd be suggesting to them to do as much online as allowed. Having said that there are a lot of guidelines, some more useful than others, and they are taking it seriously.
I think it's the moving and the socialising which will be the issue. They will likely be coming from areas with higher levels of infection than our area currently has, and the student population adds considerably to the local population, and probably has more contacts each day. Only those coming from countries outside the UK are being asked to self-isolate (as far as I'm aware). I'd have preferred it if all students moving were asked to self-isolate for at least a week.
For the socialising, I think the organised stuff will probably be pretty good. We have a decent chunk of outdoor space, so it will be low risk, but I'd be amazed if some students don't go on pub crawls etc. Our student club is closed for the foreseeable future and has been converted into a quieter "cafe style" socialising space.
I'd also like to see pooled testing and/or testing of sewage being done on campus to find outbreaks quickly. We may have loaned the equipment needed to the government though. There are also issues if we test all our students, but not the local population.
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Sep 2020
4:28pm, 20 Sep 2020
36,986 posts
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DocM
thanks jda, your view seems fairly in line with mine. And Swittle the information you give seems fairly typical of what im hearing. I know some knowledgable people feel strongly that we would be best to keep students off campus until after christmas. Its the timing, coinciding with what seems to be a critical moment in our opportunity to stop the numbers rising further, that is of concern. I saw that St Andrews requested their students to lockdown for the weekend voluntaryily but Ive not heard how that has gone.
UCL seems particularly keen to keep teaching online only this term, so happy that my boy starting maths there has chosen to stay at home (that's going to save a lot of money).
I feel for the first years spending there start at uni with mostly online lectures, living away from home and with limited social opportunity. At least for the year 2s upwards, they already have friends and are probably sharing houses with them.
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Sep 2020
4:28pm, 20 Sep 2020
17,821 posts
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Rosehip
and the ones who get it towards the end of term and take it home to Grandma for Christmas.
How do students fit in with the "household" rules?
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Sep 2020
4:28pm, 20 Sep 2020
1,512 posts
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Grast_girl
It's the support staff who are probably most at risk, and the bus drivers on the popular uni routes.
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Sep 2020
4:31pm, 20 Sep 2020
36,987 posts
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DocM
good points Grast_girl
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Sep 2020
4:32pm, 20 Sep 2020
36,988 posts
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DocM
I think the household rules could get very blurred.
My eldest is going back in the next few days so will completely change his household. Not sure if that would be allowed if we were in a lockdown area?
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Sep 2020
4:35pm, 20 Sep 2020
17,581 posts
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Bazoaxe
There have been positive tests in halls in both Edinburgh and Glasgow in the last week. Also reports of a student who was told by tracers to isolate but went to classes anyway but got called out by their flat mate.
I saw someone on sky news today suggest it was people ignoring guidance to isolate that are behind the spread.
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Sep 2020
4:38pm, 20 Sep 2020
17,822 posts
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Rosehip
There was something along those lines today about the Bolton outbreak - someone who refused to have 14 days quarantine on returning from abroad and went on a weekend long pub-crawl instead.
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