Florida Universities to open on fall

Submitted by SugarShane on May 19th, 2020 at 8:50 AM

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/18/florida-universities-to-reopen-in-the-fall-state-leaders-say/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

"Florida’s public university campuses will reopen in the fall, state higher education leaders announced Monday, but details won’t be known until later.

Some specifics will be discussed May 28 at the State University System’s Board of Governors meeting, where a task force will present guidelines for reopening. Representatives from each of the 12 schools in the system will share individual plans about a month later, on June 23."

ThePonyConquerer

May 19th, 2020 at 8:52 AM ^

“I don’t normally tell everybody this but back when we were little, my brother would lock us both up in his room, then corner me into the stinking corner, as he did he would take a bunch of rubber bands and tape them all in my hair.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Oh that’s not the half of it. There’s at least a million instances of my brother being mean to me.”

“I wouldn’t know how that felt. ‘Cause I’m an only child. And I’m not like you..., uh sorry about that. I’m sorry, heh.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Um yes. Er no, I mean... sorry.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Sorry.”

“You apologize a lot.”

WindyCityBlue

May 19th, 2020 at 9:27 AM ^

Not saying I agree with Florida, but haven’t their numbers looked better than Michigan in some ways?  
 

1. Much lower deaths with a much larger population. 

2. Daily new cases trend heading in the right direction. 
 

They certainly look better than Illinois. But that’s not saying much. 

Biaka yomama

May 19th, 2020 at 9:37 AM ^

The real heroes?  The responsible 'Florida Man'.  Didn't see that argument coming.

Just admit them keeping the state open was the right choice.  It'll set you free.  Everyone is opening up now, anyway, and we're in the same position as 2 months ago (except 2 major cities.)

mackbru

May 19th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^

I don't know about Florida but I certainly wouldn't trust it. Georgia is clearly underreporting and/or fudging the numbers, according to solid research by the local newspaper: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-18/georgia-coronavirus-numbers-reopening-manipulated-data-brian-kemp Not to mention the fact that most covid cases and deaths are unreported due to testing shortages and victims who die/get sick at home without getting tested.

WindyCityBlue

May 19th, 2020 at 12:18 PM ^

Per capita numbers (per million people) from Worldmeter:

1. Florida.  Cases: 2186.  Deaths: 96

2. Michigan. Cases: 5198.  Deaths: 492

3. Illinois. Cases: 7614.  Deaths: 334

If Florida is under reporting, I highly doubt they are doing it that much to reconcile the large gap between them and Michigan/Illinois.

throw it deep

May 19th, 2020 at 1:21 PM ^

No, you're wrong. Actually they're over-reporting.

 

And since apparently we don't need to provide any evidence to claim that widely used numbers are wrong, that will conclude my message. How does it feel to be wrong?

Njia

May 19th, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^

Maybe, but probably not. My sister is an RN at a Central Florida hospital in the shadow of the Disney World property. She said that with the exception of about 7-10 days in early April, the number of Covid patients was so low that staff was being sent home early. The expected crush of cases never materialized at any point. 

ScooterTooter

May 19th, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^

Well of course. Who wouldn't? After all, we all know that Florida's governor committed the grave error of opening their beaches (science says that's where roughly 99% of all cases originate. Meanwhile places like nursing homes, residences and public transportation make up less than .1% of total transmission), so of course he had to fire Rebekah Jones who was just about to inform us about the millions who had died in the last few weeks. 

Look at how drastically Florida's case numbers have dropped since May 5th!

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/florida/

What are they hiding???

ypsituckyboy

May 19th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^

Michigan is among the worst states in the country based on population and Florida among the best so I'm not sure what your point is. People mocked Florida when they didn't shut everything down immediately but they did the smart thing and focused more effort on vulnerable populations and it worked.

Michigan Arrogance

May 19th, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^

yes, I thing heat and humidity significantly lower infection rates. The interesting thing for me re: the south is how deep summer (now-early Oct) will affect the infection rates b/c starting now, so many people will head indoors into the A/C to get out of the heat. That's the last thing you'd want to do

WindyCityBlue

May 19th, 2020 at 12:10 PM ^

There's an interesting dynamic with heat/humidity, not just in how it impacts the virus, but also in how people react to this. 

I think there is some very reputable sources that strongly indicate that its much harder to transmit the virus in the outdoors due to factors like heat/humidity.  However, as the heat/humidity increase, more people head for indoors with AC, making the transmission of the virus more easy.  For example, weather in Mumbai right now is high 80s and 70% humidity.  Yikes!  I might want to stay indoors for that.

Therefore, there seems to be a heat/humidity window that is "good" and one that is not.

Hotel Putingrad

May 19th, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^

https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article242773056.html?__twitter_impression=true

Rebekah Jones, the geographic information system manager for DOH’s Division of Disease Control and Health Protection, wrote in an email, distributed Friday that authority over the dashboard was taken away from her office on May 5. The sharply worded email, which was shared with the Herald by a recipient of the message, was addressed to users of the state’s data portal, which includes researchers and journalists. It was not clear who replaced her and her staff.

"As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months,” wrote Jones, who holds a Ph.D. in geography from Florida State University. “After all, my commitment to both is largely [arguably entirely] the reason I am no longer managing it.”

Biaka yomama

May 19th, 2020 at 1:04 PM ^

You'd think with every journalist breathing down Florida's neck they'd be able to find more evidence than one disgruntled employee as 'proof' their cheating.  Fuck dude.  You think the doctors and nurses would have noticed some sort discrepancy.

BlockM

May 19th, 2020 at 9:22 AM ^

I don't know if it's a bad idea to open up universities in the fall. I don't know that anyone will have a great feel for it until mid-summer. 

However, with Florida actively suppressing information about their infection rates (https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/18/censorship-covid-19-data-researcher-removed-florida-moves-re-open-state/5212398002/) I wouldn't feel particularly confident that decisions are being made with the best interests of students and the general public in mind.

BlockM

May 19th, 2020 at 9:39 AM ^

Not sure what you think my point is... Why would Florida doing well hurt my feelings? 

I don't have a problem with universities planning to open in the fall. It's important to make plans. If the situation worsens you can always cancel or adjust the plans, but it's great that schools aren't cancelling things months in advance. Seems wise to think this way, good on them, I just hope they're making these decisions based on what's best for students and their families.

Biaka yomama

May 19th, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^

Believe it or not, I actually am a scientist.  I've been amused how all the shutdown lovers believe they are 'pro-science.'  I believe in an opening up plan that's actually sustainable.

You realize we're opening up with about the same amount of hospitalizations/deaths as we did when we closed down outside of a few major cities?  The policies put in place by many states have shown to be a failure.  All shutting down for months has done is completely tank the economy, keep kids out of school, increase alcohol sales, increase domestic abuse..  

awill76

May 19th, 2020 at 11:31 AM ^

I agree.  Diminishing infections has much more to do with social distance than with draconian shutdowns.  That and scaring the shit out of people by showing CV wards in Italy with people being carted around in bubbles of death.  People are still too scared, by-and-large, to go to the hospital for anything other than emergency situations.  Gov. Whitmer could issue an all-clear order today and it's still gonna take a long time for life to get back to normal.