Correct that students are currently scheduled to be back on campus at most schools. Incorrect to say that there is not an appreciable number people advocating that we should not allow schools to open.
CDC reports 116 COVID 19 deaths in the 15-24 age group so far. There are almost 44 million people in that age group in the US.
In 2018 2,476 teenagers ages 13-19 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2018. I could not find 15-24 stats, but it's a safe bet that it's more than 2500 per year. That's more than 1o times the number of COVID 19 deaths (annualized). Many times that number were injured. It's pretty simple. Let's not let people get in cars.
The vast majority of people who contract the disease the symptoms have "mild flu like symptoms", especially among younger people. That is not going to overload the health care system. At a teaching hospital in a metropolitan area of 800,000, plus the largest private hospital in the area, as of three weeks ago there were at total of three Covid 19 inpatients.
The incidence rate may be rising for 40-50 year olds, but again, with flu like symptoms. Less than 7.5% of deaths are people under 55 according to CDC statistics. Which is back to my point. Are we going to shut down for every health risk, from flu to cars? I have two kids in college. Am I afraid for them to go back? Not at all.
Viruses are very fragile. UV from sunlight kills this virus. I laugh at people walking down the street on a sunny day wearing masks, or riding alone in a car. There is so much misinformation from the media it's disgusting. At the teaching hospital I referred to a memo went out that staff should wear masks. For scientific reasons? No, due to public perception is what the memo stated. A surgeon I spoke with recently was complaining about protocols put in place--he was quick to say none were based on science.
So let's have college football. The kids who want to play can play. The people who want to attend can attend. You have to be hiding in a cave to not know the risk, which is low for people with no underlying health issues.
What happened to freedom to make your own decisions in this country? More importantly, what happened to freedom? There are risks in living in a free society. I prefer freedom to governmental dictates, but apparently most Americans don't feel the same. That's the real illness.
I haven't advocated for not having kids on campus or not having college football, I hope to have both.
i would advocate for social distancing. There is no reason for 50,000 people to be in the stands of a football stadium. That has the potential for very serious consequences. Even if most of those in the stadium are young and healthy they will interact with people who are not. If you take all the folks who are at a higher risk (that would include all seniors and all people with underlying conditions) that would amount to roughly 45% of the US adult population.
The studies are pretty clear on mask usage, if you use them you knock down the spread of the virus. You had the case in Missouri where the 2 infected hair stylists worked on 140 people and none got sick as the stylists and all 140 customers were wearing masks.
AZ is currently at 85% io hospital bed usage state wide. Montgomery, AL is currently at 100% of bed utilization and the mayor and some of the doctors at the local hospitals asked the city council to approve a mandatory mask ordinance - it was voted down 5-4.
When I go out I take a mask with me. If no one is around I do not wear one. If I am going to be within 10 ft of people for any period of time then I put it on. It's a pretty simple gesture.
The US is currently the Western 1st world country with the second highest new case rate per capita after only Sweden. Brazil, Peru and Saudia Arabia have higher per capita new case rates than either. We have lost 116K officially and probably closer to 175K if you look at excess deaths and even now COVID is the 3rd leading cause of death in the US behind Heart Disease and Cancer - and still far ahead of the 4th leading cause of death in the US - accidents, and is currently killing roughly 6-7X every day what the flu kills on a daily basis.
Like I implied, i'm not in favor of locking the country down, but I am in favor of doing small, easy things that would help control the spread.
Ironically, those who want to argue for the greatest 'freedom' don't want to take the simple steps that would allow everyone to have the most freedom and have the country be the most open. as the Surgeon General said, wearing a mask increases our freedom, not decreases it.
We have seem to have forgotten common courtesy in this country, it's sort of sad.
