College Reopening, a Warm-up to a Greater Catastrophe

There is anxiety about the reopening of higher ed institutions because nobody has found the proof bullet formula to guarantee students' health safety. The Washington Post, for example, published about a Yale University study that states, students can safely return to college if tested for coronavirus every two days. While faculty and staff in these same institutions are asking administrators and government officials to stop the magical thinking an return to online classes.

Rochestown College, Ireland.

The Atlantic

...Many colleges will likely, within weeks of reopening, place a quickly expanding set of students under lockdown. And if these measures fail, the colleges will close on short notice. At that point, thousands of students—many of them infected with COVID-19—will board trains and planes to go home, spreading the virus to their families.

If colleges reopen, kids from parts of the country with high case counts will, inevitably, travel to parts of the country with low case counts—and bring their home-state problems with them. This is why the biggest threat posed by reopening colleges is not to students, faculty, or staff, but to the surrounding community.

It remains to be seen if college student protesting their school reopening, can simply not sign up for this semester.