Now comes this item from the LA Times:
Coronavirus outbreak tied to fraternity parties imperils fall semester at UC Berkeley
Rong-Gong Lin, 7-9-20
An outbreak of coronavirus infections tied to parties connected to fraternities at UC Berkeley is imperiling the prospect of in-person fall semester classes, university officials warned. In just one week, there have been 47 COVID-19 cases confirmed by the University Health Services system, the school said in a letter to the campus community. Most of the 47 new cases “stem from a series of recent parties connected to the CalGreek system, which included students both within the CalGreek community and others, and led to some secondary spread within households and within other smaller gatherings,” said the letter written by Anna Harte, medical director of the campus’ health clinic, and Guy Nicolette, an assistant vice chancellor.
“Generally, these infections are directly related to social events where students have not followed basic safety measures such as physical distancing, wearing face coverings, limiting event size, and gathering outside,” the letter said. The outbreak underscores how California’s new coronavirus surge is being fueled by much younger people who are getting back to summer social events and contracting COVID-19.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that younger people who think “they are invincible” are falling ill nevertheless. Adults between 18 and 49 have made up 6.4% of California’s coronavirus-related deaths.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti underscored that point Wednesday, saying “more than 50% of the people who are testing positive in Los Angeles County are between 18 and 40 years of age.” Adults 18 to 40 make up 35% of L.A. County’s population.
While “most young people are doing the right thing,” he said, “it’s clear that a lot of them are not.”
“This isn’t complicated: Do not get together with someone who’s not in your household,” he said. “These weeks are absolutely critical: Critical to whether schools open, whether our economy and our economic recovery path continues. These weeks are critical for saving lives.”
More than 100 residents of Los Angeles County between the ages of 18 and 40 have died from the coronavirus. “While the rate of death is significantly less for younger people, unfortunately, younger people die pretty much almost every day,” Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health for L.A. County, said Thursday. “And some of the people who are dying don’t have any underlying health conditions, either.”
About 7% of the people who have died in L.A. County with a coronavirus infection had no underlying health conditions. Younger adults can also be a significant spread of the coronavirus to more vulnerable people. A study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in Japan, it was most often adults in their 20s or 30s — infected but not showing signs of illness — who were responsible for spreading the coronavirus among 61 clusters of illness.
“As a young person, you inadvertently unknowingly could be infecting people, even in your age cohort, who then go on and infect somebody else who’s at risk and has a terrible outcome and actually may even die,” Ferrer said. Even those who do survive COVID-19 can suffer from months of complications, Ferrer added. A growing number of campuses are rethinking fall on-campus plans as the coronavirus has surged again...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-09/coronavirus-outbreak-tied-to-fraternity-parties-at-uc-berkeley-imperils-fall-semester
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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2020/05/recent-berkeley-frat-party.html.
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Comment: Viruses don't care whether you are just looking to have a good time such as a frat party, whether you are participating in a demonstration for some cause, whether you are participating in a religious ceremony, or any other human concern. They just spread, if enabled. Folks, as the mayor said, this is not complicated.
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