密歇根新闻广播 在校园里依靠学生控制COVID-19

 

Leaning on students to contain COVID-19 on campus

Even as some colleges and universities blame students for hosting off-campus parties and contributing to the risk of COVID-19 spreading on campus, Dr. Preeti Malani believes administrators¹ can rely on students to follow public health advice to prevent outbreaks that could lead to the cancellation³ of in-person classes.

Malani is the Chief Health Officer and a professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Michigan. Her recent op-ed in The New York Times is a sort of instruction manual telling college students how to mitigate⁴ the risk of spreading coronavirus this fall.

But can universities really rely on young people to make the right (public health-informed) choices?

“I feel that they can, especially if they’re given guidance...to reframe things they can do (safely),” Malani says. “When we talk about a public health-informed semester it doesn’t mean zero risk of cases of COVID-19...students are going to have to step up and help each other through this.”

U of M is offering a hybrid⁵ approach to learning this fall, with some in-person instruction available and enough remote classes that it says most students will be able to choose whether to attend in Ann Arbor⁶ or attend all classes remotely.

Malani definitely expects to see an increase in cases of COVID-19 on U of M's Ann Arbor campus once students move in and classes resume. Her hope is that asking students to “step up” can keep the increase in case numbers at “an acceptable level," but she says too much of an increase in cases on campus could cause the cancellation of in-person classes.

A lot of what it takes to stay safe on campus, Malani says, goes back to what people have been told to do for months: wash their hands frequently, wear masks, stay outside as much as possible, and hang out in small groups.

One of the biggest challenges for higher-ed administrators to address is the risk of transmission of coronavirus at off-campus parties and hang outs.

On some other campuses, students are already being blamed for hosting parties and large gatherings⁷. The Central Michigan University student newspaper CM Life reports CMU Associate Vice² President for Student Affairs Tony Voisin sent an email to students on August 21 threatening to “fine or even suspend individuals who host or attend large gatherings.”

Michigan State University last week abruptly⁸ decided⁹ to cancel plans for in-person instruction and is asking undergraduates not to come to campus and instead take class virtually from home.

U of M’s Coronavirus data dashboard shows a testing positivity rate of 1.1% over the past 14 days.

What are the indicators¹⁰ of coronavirus spread Malani will be keeping an eye on?

“There’s going to be a constant trickle¹¹ of (new coronavirus) cases,” Malani says. “What we don’t want to see is a big rise. It’s less about an absolute number but more about where that trend is going … The other thing that’s so important is the percentage positive of tests. We want to see that number stay very very low.”

What could change at U of M if new cases exceed “acceptable” levels?

“What could happen is we might halt or pause in person classes,” Malani says. “I’m hopeful we aren’t going to get to that. There are going to be cases, but our hope is to take care of everyone, really ask the students to step up, and that we do our best and reframe what our expectations are this semester.”

1 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

4 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

5 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

6 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

7 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

8 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

11 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。