Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Harvard: buffet, floods, teenagers)

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

I'm wondering the same thing. 200+ cases per day, despite the kind of low positivity % and measures we have in place...just seems like we're missing a mode of transmission somewhere.

Teens and 20-somethings in close proximity without masks. The real spike is due in the colleges. Nobody drinks keg beer out of Solo cups with a mask.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Teens and 20-somethings in close proximity without masks.

And the evidence of this is where?

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

And the evidence of this is where?

Just go and read the news. Teens and college kids like to party--they're at that age.

And one university I heard about in NC sent everyone back home after one week due to the spike in cases. Syracuse University suspended several students after a big party.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...-not-following

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which sent its students home last week amid the emergence of several clusters of COVID-19 cases, updated its dashboard to show a positivity rate of 31.3 percent last week, up sharply from the previous week. UNC has become the prototype for institutions that have been forced to reassess their plans after attempting to bring large numbers of students back to a physical campus.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Just go and read the news. Teens and college kids like to party--they're at that age.

Then there's the one kid who tested positive and went out anyway

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/...es/5625387002/

Originally Posted by redplum33

Baker says Massachusetts coronavirus cases traced to RI wedding


https://twitter.com/NBC10/status/1298311613037121537

It's interesting that the virus is so contagious that EVERYONE at the wedding except for one person tested positive. Would like to know more details of the scenario. Indoors I assume? Lots of hugging, kissing and dancing? It also would be nice to know if this was a wedding party of 250 people? Or a 15-person intimate dinner setting?

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Just go and read the news. Teens and college kids like to party--they're at that age.

And one university I heard about in NC sent everyone back home after one week due to the spike in cases. Syracuse University suspended several students after a big party.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/...-not-following

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which sent its students home last week amid the emergence of several clusters of COVID-19 cases, updated its dashboard to show a positivity rate of 31.3 percent last week, up sharply from the previous week. UNC has become the prototype for institutions that have been forced to reassess their plans after attempting to bring large numbers of students back to a physical campus.

And certainly anecdotal evidence anywhere I go. Teens and early 20-somethings move in packs like always and you won’t ever see a mask if parents aren’t around.

[Bridge781]

349 new cases today.

[NewfieMama]

I've always been a little thrown off by the metric of # of hospitals at surge capacity--it never really correlates to the rest of the data in that it doesn't seem dependent at all on # of COVID hospitalizations. I wish we could replace that metric with R0 or even a line graph with % of cases by age (which has been discussed).

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Just go and read the news. Teens and college kids like to party--they're at that age.

And one university I heard about in NC sent everyone back home after one week due to the spike in cases. Syracuse University suspended several students after a big party.

I’m talking about cases in MA (per this thread). We all know many kids are engaging in risky behavior, as would have many of us at that age if we’re being honest. However, we’re just guessing that this is the primary source of new cases. I’ve seen a few well know examples that account for a handful of cases, that’s it. You’d think Baker and others would be banging their fist if it was all irresponsible kids. It doesn’t add up. As has been the case for months, we need more transparency.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I've always been a little thrown off by the metric of # of hospitals at surge capacity--it never really correlates to the rest of the data in that it doesn't seem dependent at all on # of COVID hospitalizations. I wish we could replace that metric with R0 or even a line graph with % of cases by age (which has been discussed).

It used to correlate better before we got the nursing homes and most of the elderly out of harms way. Those were the people landing in the ICU on vents in such big numbers. People in the higher risk groups have changed their behavior so their transmission rate is much lower. Even in “It’s just the flu” land in Florida, the big retirement communities like The Villages saw most residents change their behavior. The Darwin Award winners are mostly younger and healthier people.

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

It used to correlate better before we got the nursing homes and most of the elderly out of harms way. Those were the people landing in the ICU on vents in such big numbers. People in the higher risk groups have changed their behavior so their transmission rate is much lower. Even in “It’s just the flu” land in Florida, the big retirement communities like The Villages saw most residents change their behavior. The Darwin Award winners are mostly younger and healthier people.

Yes, good point, I understand how it COULD be a useful metric if our hospitalizations were up and overwhelming hospitals was a big concern (like it was when this all started). Now that we are passed the point of worrying about overwhelming hospitals and are really honing in on how to control the minor outbreaks we are seeing in our state, I feel like there might be other more useful metrics we could report out on daily.