Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The Calculus Of Returning To Campus
San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area College Students Trapped In Pre-Coronavirus Leases
Bay Area college students, already disrupted by the pandemic, are also struggling to renegotiate tightly-drawn leases signed before the crisis. Lawyers and renter advocates say students at universities in San Jose, San Francisco and Berkeley — expensive markets where high demand often forces students into making quick and early decisions on apartments — are being squeezed to pay rent for rooms they may never set foot in. (Hansen, 7/26)
Boston Globe: Dorm Rooms At The Westin? Hotels And Universities Are Teaming Up To Offer Socially Distanced Student Housing
As Boston’s universities and hotels both find themselves wrestling with the realities of life with coronavirus, some of them are teaming up to house students in a socially distanced fashion. Three schools — Northeastern, Suffolk, and the New England Conservatory — have asked the Walsh administration for approval to lease floors of hotels and ― in some cases ― entire hotels for use as dorms. And Boston University wants to take over a Commonwealth Avenue apartment building that has been used as temporary student housing for several years to supplement its dorm space. (Logan, 7/26)
The Hill: COVID-19 Testing At Universities Threatens To Strain Nationwide Capacity
Demand for COVID-19 testing could soar in the fall with the reopening of some universities and schools, threatening to overburden an already strained system. Many schools and universities are planning to regularly test students and staff in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses. But public health officials and experts worry there is not enough capacity and supplies to test thousands of people who aren’t showing any symptoms of the disease. (Hellmann, 7/26)
AP: Colleges Plan For Virus Testing, But Strategies Vary Widely
For students heading to Colby College in Maine this fall, coronavirus testing is expected to be a routine part of campus life. All students will be required to provide a nasal swab every other day for two weeks, and then twice a week after that. All told, the college says it will provide 85,000 tests, nearly as many as the entire state of Maine has since the pandemic started. Colby, a private school of 2,000 students, joins a growing number of colleges announcing aggressive testing plans to catch and isolate COVID-19 cases before they spread. Harvard University says all students living on campus will be tested when they arrive and then three times a week. Boston University plans to test most students at least once a week. (Binkley, 7/26)
