COVID-19 widespread testing is crucial to fighting the pandemic, but is there enough testing? The answer is in the positivity rates. USA TODAY
Despite a Labor Day weekend heat wave that would normally send them flocking to the beach, thousands of San Diego State University students have been ordered to stay indoors because of an outbreak of the coronavirus.
About 600 students live on campus from among 35,000 enrolled at the university. The lockdown order follows a move to online classes only several days ago. The university has reported 120 cases so far.
Taking a hard line, Northeastern University plans to dismiss 11 first-year students – and not refund their tuition – after they were found together in a hotel room in Boston. The gathering violated rules aimed at preventing spread of COVID-19. They were among 800 students staying in two-person rooms at a Westin in conjunction with a study-abroad program.
And the coronavirus is leading to fears that Black and Latino Americans could be undercounted as part of the Census. A USA TODAY analysis found in 63% of census tracts there have been fewer initial responses than for the 2010 count.
Some significant developments:
- The members of nine fraternities and sororities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been directed to quarantine themselves after 38 students tested positive for COVID-19.
- Northeastern University dismissed 11 first-year students, without refunds, after they violated university COVID-19 protocols.
- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden confirmed Friday that he has been tested for COVID-19 and said he will continue to be tested “on a regular basis.”
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has 6.2 million confirmed cases and over 188,000 deaths. Globally, there are 26 million cases and more than 880,000 people have died.
📰 What we’re reading: Do you need a COVID-19 test if you plan to travel? It’s confusing. That’s in part because states have different views on COVID-19 risks, the role of testing and the need for quarantine.
This file will be updated throughout the day. For updates in your inbox, subscribe to the Daily Briefing.
San Diego college students ordered to stay in their dorms
San Diego State University on Saturday announced a stay at home order for students living on-campus after San Diego County announced 120 new virus cases connected with the campus.
The move comes days after SDSU halted in-person classes for a month but kept on-campus housing open. The university, the third-largest in the state, has more than 35,000 students but as many as 2,600 students have been living on campus since the fall semester began Aug. 24.
Since the beginning of the semester, there have been 184 cases at the university, according to San Diego County.
Among California’s 10 most populous counties, San Diego is the only one with virus cases low enough to meet state standards for reopening theaters, museums and gyms, and resuming indoor dining – all with limited capacity to provide for physical distancing. But on Friday, county health officials warned of a concerning of rise cases in the county which could not be entirely attributed to SDSU cases.
Northeastern University dismisses students who violated COVID-19 policy
Northeastern University dismissed 11 first-year students after they were discovered together in a room at the Westin Hotel in Boston on Wednesday night, in violation of university and public health protocols that prohibit crowded gatherings, the school announced Friday. They will not receive refunds on their payments for the semester.
The students were part of a study-abroad experience for first-year students that had been modified due to COVID-19 and was, instead, hosting more than 800 students in two-person rooms at the Westin, less than one mile from campus. The gathering was discovered Wednesday night.
“Cooperation and compliance with public health guidelines is absolutely essential. Those people who do not follow the guidelines – including wearing masks, avoiding parties and other gatherings, practicing healthy distancing, washing your hands and getting tested – are putting everyone else at risk,” Madeleine Estabrook, senior vice chancellor for student affairs at Northeastern, said in a statement.
Google gives employees extra holiday amid pandemic
Many months into the pandemic, Google is making Friday a one-time paid holiday for “collective well-being” and encouraging employees to enjoy a four-day holiday weekend, the company confirmed.
Google announced in July that employees would continue to work from home until summer of 2021.
Census response in poor, minority neighborhoods is undermined by coronavirus
Thousands of Black and Latino Americans could go uncounted in the nation’s census this year because of the coronavirus pandemic and other disruptions that discouraged households in poor and heavily minority neighborhoods from filling out their forms.
In 63% of census tracts, fewer people provided initial responses this year than in 2010, a USA TODAY analysis found. Response rates fell particularly in tracts with high concentrations of Black or Latino residents, large percentages of families qualifying for government benefits, or low levels of access to broadband internet.
People of color and poor families are undercounted every census. But COVID-19 delayed delivery of Census questionnaires for hard-to-reach populations during the spring quarantine and delayed operations since then to reach households that failed to respond.
– Theresa Diffendal
7,000 health workers worldwide have died from COVID-19, NGO says
At least 7,000 health workers worldwide have died after contracting COVID-19, human rights organization Amnesty International said Thursday.
“For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a scandal that so many are paying the ultimate price,” Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International, said in a statement.
At least 1,320 health workers are confirmed to have died in Mexico alone, the highest known figure for any country, the group said. The U.S. has seen the second-highest number of health care worker deaths, Amnesty International said, with more than 1,000 deaths.
COVID-19 resources from USA TODAY
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- In your inbox: Stay up-to-date with the latest news on the coronavirus pandemic from the USA TODAY Network. Sign up for the daily Coronavirus Watch newsletter.
- Tips for coping: Every Saturday and Tuesday we’ll be in your inbox, offering you a virtual hug and a little bit of solace in these difficult times. Sign up for Staying Apart, Together.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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