Where I live we had a significant challenge dealing with the COVID pandemic: a major university campus. This institution high density residences and lots of personal interactions, plus a very mobile population. Unchecked, the virus would quickly infect all the student, teachers, and staff, and then spread to the surrounding populations. Before vaccines and treatments were available, this was a potentially explosive situation.
Our University stepped up with a technically advanced and well-designed program of rapid universal testing, contact tracing and isolation, and, of course, remote instruction and meetings. And later, with nearly universal vaccination. (Read the research paper for details [1].)
So, how well did this work?
This summer researchers report estimates of the effectiveness of these measures [1]. The bottom line is that it looks like these measures worked pretty well. Millions of tests were performed—tens of thousands per day—yielding very low positivity. I.e., nearly all cases were detected, and detected early.
Statistical analyses suggest that the area overall experienced substantially fewer cases than similar places with less effective management. It’s hard to say, but clearly, things would have been a lot worse if the university population had been a major transmitter of the virus throughout the area.
Living in the region, I have to say that I was very pleased with the aggressive and effective measures at the university. I was extremely worried that the university would be a major site of infection and would spread quickly not only locally but also back to the homes of the students as they come and go. For me, it was a great sense of relief when it became clear that the university was doing an outstanding job of protecting the rest of us. We still had to close things down, mask up, and suffer. But at least we weren’t defeated by uncontrolled transmission from campus.
The university wants to crow about this success, calling it “a model for effective pandemic management” [2]. I don’t always agree with the my Alma Mater’s self-congratulations, but in this case, from my perspective, this accolade is well justified.
Very nice work, all. Thank you.
- Diana Rose E. Ranoa, Robin L. Holland, Fadi G. Alnaji, Kelsie J. Green, Leyi Wang, Richard L. Fredrickson, Tong Wang, George N. Wong, Johnny Uelmen, Sergei Maslov, Zachary J. Weiner, Alexei V. Tkachenko, Hantao Zhang, Zhiru Liu, Ahmed Ibrahim, Sanjay J. Patel, John M. Paul, Nickolas P. Vance, Joseph G. Gulick, Sandeep Puthanveetil Satheesan, Isaac J. Galvan, Andrew Miller, Joseph Grohens, Todd J. Nelson, Mary P. Stevens, P. Mark Hennessy, Robert C. Parker, Edward Santos, Charles Brackett, Julie D. Steinman, Melvin R. Fenner, Kirstin Dohrer, Michael DeLorenzo, Laura Wilhelm-Barr, Brian R. Brauer, Catherine Best-Popescu, Gary Durack, Nathan Wetter, David M. Kranz, Jessica Breitbarth, Charlie Simpson, Julie A. Pryde, Robin N. Kaler, Chris Harris, Allison C. Vance, Jodi L. Silotto, Mark Johnson, Enrique Andres Valera, Patricia K. Anton, Lowa Mwilambwe, Stephen P. Bryan, Deborah S. Stone, Danita B. Young, Wanda E. Ward, John Lantz, John A. Vozenilek, Rashid Bashir, Jeffrey S. Moore, Mayank Garg, Julian C. Cooper, Gillian Snyder, Michelle H. Lore, Dustin L. Yocum, Neal J. Cohen, Jan E. Novakofski, Melanie J. Loots, Randy L. Ballard, Mark Band, Kayla M. Banks, Joseph D. Barnes, Iuliana Bentea, Jessica Black, Jeremy Busch, Abigail Conte, Madison Conte, Michael Curry, Jennifer Eardley, April Edwards, Therese Eggett, Judes Fleurimont, Delaney Foster, Bruce W. Fouke, Nicholas Gallagher, Nicole Gastala, Scott A. Genung, Declan Glueck, Brittani Gray, Andrew Greta, Robert M. Healy, Ashley Hetrick, Arianna A. Holterman, Nahed Ismail, Ian Jasenof, Patrick Kelly, Aaron Kielbasa, Teresa Kiesel, Lorenzo M. Kindle, Rhonda L. Lipking, Yukari C. Manabe, Jade ́ Mayes, Reubin McGuffin, Kenton G. McHenry, Agha Mirza, Jada Moseley, Heba H. Mostafa, Melody Mumford, Kathleen Munoz, Arika D. Murray, Moira Nolan, Nil A. Parikh, Andrew Pekosz, Janna Pflugmacher, Janise M. Phillips, Collin Pitts, Mark C. Potter, James Quisenberry, Janelle Rear, Matthew L. Robinson, Edith Rosillo, Leslie N. Rye, MaryEllen Sherwood, Anna Simon, Jamie M. Singson, Carly Skadden, Tina H. Skelton, Charlie Smith, Mary Stech, Ryan Thomas, Matthew A. Tomaszewski, Erika A. Tyburski, Scott Vanwingerden, Evette Vlach, Ronald S. Watkins, Karriem Watson, Karen C. White, Timothy L. Killeen, Robert J. Jones, Andreas C. Cangellaris, Susan A. Martinis, Awais Vaid, Christopher B. Brooke, Joseph T. Walsh, Ahmed Elbanna, William C. Sullivan, Rebecca L. Smith, Nigel Goldenfeld, Timothy M. Fan, Paul J. Hergenrother and Martin D. Burke, Mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a large public university. Nature Communications, 13 (1):3207, 2022/06/09 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30833-3
- Liz Ahlberg Touchstone, SHIELD program a model for effective pandemic management, data show, in University of Illinois – News, June 9, 2022. https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/148267842
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