Answer the call

Students, please heed covid-19 warnings

Rhands, emember the wave? It still rears its head (well, actually) from time to time, frustrating the more serious sports fans in whatever ballpark, stadium or arena is being turned into a human version of oceanic oscillations. It happens when some motivated individual concludes it’s up to him to whip the home crowd (and sometimes visitors) into a frenzy. Or it might be someone bored with the action on the field who decides to make his own. In any case, it all starts with one man or woman. She leaps up, throws her hands into the air like she’s riding a roller coaster, then quickly sits down. The she repeats it. After two or three times, someone nearby picks up on the hint. Then a third. Soon enough, Section 114 is undulating, encouraging section 115 to join in and pass it on to 116. Quickly, one person’s actions have spread to an entire stadium, creating a roaring wave that spreads in almost unstoppable fashion. Welcome to what may be ahead for Arkansas’ epidemic of covid-19. But nobody’s cheering and it’s not going to be any fun. On Thursday, anyone with a basic grasp of the state’s higher education landscape could put two and two together. After weeks of diminishing numbers, sometimes not even ranking among the top daily covid-19 case numbers, the number of positive test results in Washington County quickly rose. Then, on Thursday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s announced case total for the state over the prior 24-hour period was 969, a shocking increase compared to recent tallies. What made it worse for Northwest Arkansas was the news that Washington County, the home of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, represented 211 of that day’s total. Further, 81% of the county’s new cases came from people between the ages of 18 and 24. It might be the first time anyone ever pitied that age group. The other counties with the top case counts included Jefferson, where 50% of the positive tests fell into the 18 to 24 age group. Friday’s numbers confirmed the terrible news. The state posted its highest one-day number of positive test results with 1,094. Washington County’s numbers made up 215 of those positives. Benton County was L the third highest county with 56. ike those sports stadium waves, the warnings to the state’s college students over the last week or so have grown in their intensity. “The colleges are, universities are driving this forward,” said Dr. José Romero, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, on Thursday. Just a day earlier, he had urged college students, who returned to campuses for the fall semester in the last few weeks, to “congregate responsibly,” which means avoiding large crowds, keeping their distance and wearing masks, among other precautions. “In today’s environment, it’s important you keep in mind the social responsibility you bear for the entire society,” he pleaded. The message was clear: Don’t let the thrill of college life blind anyone to the realities of the epidemic, which will get out of control quickly if the state’s college students continue to throw caution to the wind. But it’s easy to get the sense Romero was playing the cautious dad telling a young adult something for his own good, and also easy to imagine the young adult saying “Sure, Dad,” but rolling his eyes. Hutchinson tried his parent voice on Thursday. “We have to follow [public health] guidelines, and I want to urge all of the college students, as we go into the Labor Day weekend — I understand many will probably not be going home, since they just got on campus, so they’ll be around and they’ll have some free time, and you’ve got to be cautious over this weekend, because 900 cases can be 1,500 cases,” Hutchinson said. “Two-hundred-eleven cases in Washington County could become 500 cases in Washington County.” University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz sounded the alarm, too, this week with a letter to the campus community. “Unfortunately, the growing number of university-affiliated cases suggests too many people still aren’t taking the virus seriously by taking the necessary precautions,” Steinmetz said. “… You also need to listen to the experts — not friends, family, colleagues or strangers on social media who may be well intentioned but are nevertheless trafficking in rumors.” Off-campus activities are catching a lot of the blame because the on-campus events are more controlled and limited. Private get-togethers, unlike in bars and businesses, can happen without any legal limitations on seating or spacing capacities. By Friday, Steinmetz had upped the ante: The UA banned all student gatherings of more than 10 people on- or off-campus. How will it be enforced? If the UA Office of Student Standards and Conduct verifies any report of social gatherings involving more than 10 students, the university will treat the event as a violation of the Code of Student Life by organizers and attendees. Similar restrictions apply to participation in large gatherings on Dickson Street and elsewhere, according to the university. Violations of the code can result in disciplinary action ranging from reprimand to expulsion. The UA didn’t outline which penalties might be used for students found to have S participated in large gatherings. adly, some kids college-age and younger feel it’s no big deal if they get sick, or they think they have little chance to catch the virus. The numbers that started rolling in this week clearly show they are as susceptible as anyone to get covid-19. Romero noted Friday that the younger age group is at less risk for complications, but he noted college-age people have died from the disease. We’ve also heard stories of some whose bodies have suffered longer-term damage as a result of the virus. As big a problem as any, though, is the role active but infected young people will play in spreading the virus to others — older Arkansans or people will compromised immunities — and the effect can become more hospitalizations and deaths. Romero on Friday predicted Arkansas’ shrinking hospitalization numbers will spike in the days ahead because of the big testing numbers revealed this week. We’d much rather play the role of college students’ cool (they think) aunt or uncle who says to call if they ever need a ride, no matter what the hour. But we’re going to have to agree with Hutchinson, Romero and Steinmetz: Please don’t be part of this wave. This one can get out of control and do a lot of damage. This demands a maturity like few things in life — in any of our lives — has demanded, and people twice the age of college students don’t always behave responsibly. Arkansas, though, is calling and urging the state’s students to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.