Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Infected College Professor Collapses During Zoom Lecture, Dies; Campuses Struggle With Reopenings
Fox News: College Professor Dies After Collapsing During Virtual Class Amid Coronavirus Battle
A college professor in Argentina died on Wednesday after she struggled to breathe and collapsed during a virtual zoom lecture following a weeks-long battle with the coronavirus, according to reports. Paola de Simone, 46, taught at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) in Buenos Aires. She was married and had a daughter, according to Clarin, a newspaper in the country. De Simone had previously detailed her struggle with COVID-19 in a Twitter post on Aug 28, writing that her symptoms had failed to subside after four weeks. (Aaro, 9/4)
The New York Times: Northeastern University Dismisses 11 Students For Breaking Virus Rules But Keeps Their Tuition
In one of the harshest punishments imposed to date against students for violations of coronavirus safety protocols, Northeastern University dismissed 11 first-year students this week and declined to refund their $36,500 tuition after they were discovered crowded into a room at a Boston hotel serving as a temporary dormitory. About 800 students are staying in two-person rooms at the hotel, the Westin, which is less than a mile from Northeastern’s Boston campus. (9/5)
AP: West Virginia Campus Cancels In-Person Classes
In-person classes will be canceled at West Virginia University’s Morgantown campus on Tuesday, with nearly all undergraduate classes moving online on Wednesday through at least Friday, Sept. 25, according to a school news release. The only exception to online undergraduate courses is health sciences courses where students are already engaged in clinical rotation, according to the school. Online classes will continue as usual. Graduate and professional courses will continue to be offered in person. (9/7)
CNN: UNH Fraternity Party Linked To Coronavirus Cluster, State Says
A cluster of Covid-19 cases has been linked to a fraternity party at the University of New Hampshire, health officials say. The state Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday that it is investigating a potential outbreak tied to a Theta Chi event last weekend. University officials said more than 100 people, including students, attended the August 29 party and few wore masks. (Kaur, 9/7)
AP: Virus Cases Spike In Kansas College Town
Active coronavirus cases in the Kansas State University area spiked more than 400% since classes resumed in mid-August. Active Riley County, Kansas cases increased from 125 on Aug. 17 — the first day of classes — to 679 as of Friday, The Manhattan Mercury reported Sunday. (9/7)
The Washington Post: Hotel Student Housing Is Saving Both The College Experience And Hotel Employees’ Jobs
When University of Pittsburgh senior Stana Topich returned to campus in early August amid the coronavirus pandemic, it wasn’t to the 19-story freshman dorms where she had expected to close out her college experience as a resident assistant (RA). Instead, she moved into the Residence Inn Pittsburgh Oakland/University Place, a newly renovated three-star hotel with an indoor pool and stylish suites. Along with two nearby hotels, the property is exclusively hosting Pitt students this semester, with masks required and capacity limitations in place. The school says it’s working with area hotels to “de-densify” campus housing and help reserve some dorms for quarantining and testing. The hotel housing comes at no extra cost to students, the University of Pittsburgh told The Washington Post. (McMahon, 9/4)
The debate rages over whether to send college students home —
Politico: Colleges’ Dilemma: Fight Outbreaks Or Send Sick Kids Home
Frightened students quarantined in dormitories or locked down in hotels. Instant suspensions for not social distancing. Regular tests of residence hall sewage. American colleges are a mess right now. And public health experts and school administrators are still deciding whether the best strategy is to forge ahead with in-person instruction, send kids home with a Zoom syllabus and risk spreading the virus, or shelter them in place. The last option could be a potentially miserable experience for a teen riding out the pandemic alone in a dorm with ramen noodles and Pop-Tarts. (Goldberg and Ehley, 9/5)
Fox News: Keep Coronavirus-Infected College Students At School, Fauci Urges
As colleges deal with coronavirus concerns, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned parents [last] week to keep kids who contract COVID-19 at school, and not let them convalesce at home. "It's the worst thing you could do," Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said during an interview on NBC’s "TODAY" show Wednesday. "When you send them home, particularly when you're dealing with a university where people come from multiple different locations, you could be seeding the different places with infection.” (McGorry, 9/4)
