College students attend parties after testing positive

[polly_mer]

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/01/the-latest-students-testing-positive-for-coronavirus-are-showing-up-at-parties-anyway-alabama-official-says/

This does not bode well for fall social distancing outside the classroom.

[kaysixteen]

No, it does not, and is more or less one of the same problems that will doubtless be encountered by professional athletic outfits seeking to reboot now.  BTW, exactly how does one play football and socially distance?

[polly_mer]

BTW, exactly how does one play football and socially distance?

Ideally, one would set up bubbles/pods that don't physically interact with anyone on the outside.

Everyone coming into the bubble initially would be isolated for a minimum of 14 days.

You can't spread what you don't have, but getting to zero in the initial pod and then everyone staying completely within the pod for the whole time of months requires willpower from every single person that's hard to get from people accustomed to a different normal.

[kaysixteen]

It would only take one player playing to more or  less spread it to everyone, and like I alluded to on the other thread, there has to be a lead time of some level between exposure to covid and ability to test positive.  Try as I might to get psyched up for the upcoming planned Cam Newton Pats season, I am deeply dubious of the NFL's ability to hold games this year (even if it ditches the insane idea of holding them with fans in attendance).  Heck, it really probably ain't feasible to play football masked, as many players might well have a problem breathing throughout the game with one on.

[Hegemony]

One of the networks — perhaps ABC? — had an article I can't find now, about college students having parties in which they contribute money to a kitty, invite a person diagnosed with Covid, and the money goes to the first person to catch it. It does sound like an urban legend, and I can't say I wholly believe it. But also, having seen a lot of really stupid hijinks among our students, I can't say I wholly disbelieve it. Meanwhile in our area, two teenage parties have acted as superspreader events, and now the virus has taken off with a roar.

[polly_mer]

One of the networks — perhaps ABC? — had an article I can't find now, about college students having parties in which they contribute money to a kitty, invite a person diagnosed with Covid, and the money goes to the first person to catch it. It does sound like an urban legend, and I can't say I wholly believe it. But also, having seen a lot of really stupid hijinks among our students, I can't say I wholly disbelieve it. Meanwhile in our area, two teenage parties have acted as superspreader events, and now the virus has taken off with a roar.

Yes, I saw that article.  The Tuscaloosa media only reported being positive at parties.  However, ABC took the same report and somehow ended up with the kitty, despite no one else reporting that and no additional sources being reported for the kitty.

[Hegemony]

Yes, here's the article:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/alabama-students-throwing-covid-parties-infected-officials/story?id=71552514&cid=social_twitter_abcn

"We thought that was kind of a rumor at first," Smith told the council members. "We did some research. Not only do the doctors' offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information."

They don't say where they first learned it — confirming that other people have heard the same rumor doesn't exactly confirm the information itself. Possibly more will be revealed.

[polly_mer]

That quote appears in other articles and appears to be related to known positive people attending parties, not any sort of kitty or bet.

I'm willing to believe that positive people who feel fine discount the risk of transmission and/or seriousness of illness and thus continue with normal activities.  That was certainly true in the before times when even a slight fever or a runny nose was not enough to induce many people to stay home.

If people were betting, then I would expect it to be a last-person not infected while engaging in risky behavior.

[Cheerful]

Another case where someone who KNEW they were positive went to a party (BBQ) and infected at least one other person.  Sadly, that person died.  This is a super sad story.

People who know they have the virus and do not quarantine should be criminally prosecuted and the punishment made clear to all as a deterrent.  This infected person, who knew he had it, killed the poor man who ventured out after the lockdown.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/california-thomas-macias-coronavirus/index.html

[RatGuy]

I agree with Polly and I think the ABC reporting has some major flaws. The article cites "authorities" when it seems as if it's just that one councilwoman making that claim.

But adding to this, the Huntsville station has posted this interview  with an Alabama graduate who recently partied in Tuscaloosa. Between Tuscaloosa, Oxford, and Athens, it looks like the south might have a mostly infected student body before September 1.

[Bonnie]

Another case where someone who KNEW they were positive went to a party (BBQ) and infected at least one other person.  Sadly, that person died.  This is a super sad story.

People who know they have the virus and do not quarantine should be criminally prosecuted and the punishment made clear to all as a deterrent.  This infected person, who knew he had it, killed the poor man who ventured out after the lockdown.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/california-thomas-macias-coronavirus/index.html

I am tempted to send this link to my university president and other admin, who seem to be relying quite heavily on some notion that most cases on campus will be asymptomatic and so we'll all be fine.

[kaysixteen]

I just saw a rather depressing form email sent from the college president to the alumni email list of dear alma mater, outlining her decision to reopen campus this fall, and delineating the way such campus life will unfold (though she made it clear that courses will continue to be available online for those choosing to not return, and that any student who wishes can also take a leave).  I am not at all convinced, based on reading the thing, describing what on-campus life will be like this semester (she said she will announce in Oct. when/ if spring semester will be held on campus, and of course makes it clear that, like it or not, she will be in ongoing discussions with various people over the course of the fall sem that might well cause her to have to reclose campus *during the fall* as well), that in any case, many if not most students who want to go to a place like dear alma mater, will actually want to return to campus under the delineated conditions this fall.   She also does not really say exactly what measures the school will be planning  on imposing to enforce these policies, something which is pretty central to their efficacy, esp since this school has a longstanding tradition of extremely hands-off student life, residential life policies, allowing a very strong amount of student freedom and independence.

[polly_mer]

The ABC article is being discussed as an example of moral panic at https://twitter.com/thrasherxy/status/1278703871053963269

Wired is also skeptical that people are getting on getting sick at parties: https://www.wired.com/story/covid-parties-are-not-a-thing/

[Caracal]

The ABC article is being discussed as an example of moral panic at https://twitter.com/thrasherxy/status/1278703871053963269

Wired is also skeptical that people are getting on getting sick at parties: https://www.wired.com/story/covid-parties-are-not-a-thing/

It confuses me that this stuff gets published and anyone believes it. I saw the headline somewhere and immediately was sure it wasn't true.

Things that are there: Story with suspiciously same themes to various old viral stories about measles parties, as well as a million other fake stories about the reckless things the kids are up to these days. Embodied dangers and villains made real. (It isn't just that other people are being careless, it is that they are actually trying to get the virus!)

Things that aren't there: Actual interviews from anybody who was at these parties, or even people who claim to know someone at these parties. Instead the information is all vague and comes from various public officials who have no expertise in this kind of thing "Oh yeah, we didn't believe it either, but then we heard from some kids that it is definitely happening." Some of the "evidence" is actually admittedly third hand and willfully misinterpreted. "We heard that the tracking  staff have been calling some young people and they seem happy they got it."

I suspect that even the part about lots of people going to parties when they know they had been diagnosed isn't true. 2.7 million people have had COVID in the US, so I'd expect that a few of them are selfish idiots and have gone to a party after a positive test, but I very much doubt this is a widespread phenomenon.

[mamselle]

Even if not true at the outset, the idea may now have been planted among the more lamely-brained of the erstwhile "student population" (some percentage of which may not even be students) and become a brand ripe for the plucking.

Self-fulfilling prophecy is so tautological.

M.