URI’s Coronavirus Plan Unravels - Lack of Testing and Discipline Come Under Fire
GoLocalProv News Team
URI’s Coronavirus Plan Unravels - Lack of Testing and Discipline Come Under Fire
On Friday night, URI ordered 2,400 fraternity and sorority members into a shelter in place.
Narragansett now has the highest rate of infection of any city or town in Rhode Island, and more than twice the state’s target number.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe total number of tests conducted so far are just a fraction of the amount of testing conducted at Brown University, which has now conducted nearly 59,000 tests since August 24, and has just 26 positive cases.
Even Providence College, which had a significant outbreak, has conducted 22,000 tests in the past few weeks.
UMASS Has Conducted 6X The Tests of URI
URI has conducted just over 15,000 tests going back to January, while the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has conducted more than 88,000 since August 20. UMASS has only 137 cases and URI now 313 positive cases. The positivity rate of 0.17 at UMASS and 2.0 at URI.
Dr. Michael Fine, the former Rhode Island Director of Health said Friday on GoLocal LIVE that URI simply lacks discipline and the school is failing to control the virus.
Linda Acciardo, spokeswoman for URI, tells GoLocal that the infection rate of those in fraternities and sororities has decreased. "As of 3:30 p.m. today, and as more test results have come in, the overall positivity rate at the University is at 2.4% and the positivity rate in the Greek community has dropped from 11.17 to 8%."
Acciardo says the other populations at URI are testing far below the elevated level in the Greek community.
For the 2,400 students in the Greek community, both on and off-campus order means:
To shelter-in-place means that members of our Greek community should not leave their residences (on and off-campus houses) EXCEPT for medically related trips, to access medical care, and other essential services (grocery shopping for off-campus residents, prescription pickup, and essential employment).
Students will take all of their classes virtually during this time and are not to come to campus or leave their Greek houses for any reason.
The order extends from 9 tonight, Friday, October 9, to Saturday, October 24.
Daily Testing at URI
"Asymptomatic surveillance testing has been part of a layered approach to protecting the health of our community. Since the start of the fall semester, URI has administered up to 500 tests daily through our asymptomatic surveillance testing program," says Acciardo.
That 500 daily testing at URI pales in comparison to the testing level at Brown, which tested nearly 11,000 in the past seven days.
"The additional mandatory testing this past week is intended to assess the overall health of the entire student body at the University and establish a baseline data set to measure population health for the remainder of the fall semester," adds Acciardo.
The CDC issued an article last week finding that the number of young adults aged 18 to 22 with COVID-19 rose by 55 percent from early August to early September as many colleges began bringing students back for the fall.
The number of cases increased at a faster rate than did the rate of testing, meaning the increase likely was not solely attributable to an increase in testing.
The new CDC guidance document offers a five-part hierarchy for selecting individuals for testing, with individuals who have COVID-19 symptoms and those who have had close contact with infected individuals getting top priority.
The guidance places a priority for testing:
- Students sharing a room or bathroom in a residence hall, living in fraternity/sorority house, or living together in off-campus housing with an individual who is COVID-19 positive
- Students, faculty and staff who have used the same dining hall at roughly the same time(s) as an individual with COVID-19
- Students, faculty and staff who are on/involved with the same athletic team as an individual with COVID-19
- Students, faculty and staff who have attended campus events or unsanctioned social gatherings (such as off-campus parties) where social distancing was not strictly adhered to with one or more individuals with COVID-19
- Students, faculty and staff identified as a close contact through case investigation and contact tracing.