Cornell U has shut down.
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Cornell partially shuts down its campus due to more than 900 COVID-19 cases in possible omicron outbreak
Cornell University has partially shut down its Ithaca, N.Y., campus due to a “rapid spread” of COVID-19 cases among the student body, the Ivy League school announced Tuesday.
The university’s online COVID dashboard counted 469 active student cases as of Tuesday afternoon. It was updated later in the day to count 903 students testing positive between December 7-13, with school officials telling CNN that a “very high percentage” of them are omicron variant cases in fully vaccinated people. Some 97% of Cornell’s population is fully vaccinated.
“Virtually every case of the omicron variant to date has been found in fully vaccinated students, a portion of whom had also received a booster shot,” Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina told CNN.
University president Martha E. Pollack posted a statement online updating the campus community to the worsening COVID outbreak on Tuesday. And she revealed that lab tests have identified evidence of the highly contagious omicron variant in a “significant number” of Monday’s COVID-19 positive student samples. But she cautioned that their evidence of omicron is “preliminary” after PCR testing identified a genetic marker that has been identified as a hallmark of the omicron variant. So while the school awaits confirmatory sequencing information, it is proceeding as if omicron is the source of the outbreak.
“As a result, and out of an abundance of caution, the university is moving to Alert Level Red and announcing a number of immediate measures, outlined below,” she wrote.
The emergency measures include moving all final exams online as of noon on Tuesday.
All undergraduate university activities and university-sponsored events are canceled — and that includes the Dec. 18 graduation ceremony for December graduates.
Students who have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past 48 hours (Saturday or Sunday) who wish to leave campus are allowed, and they are encouraged to wear face masks and take another COVID-19 test when they reach their destination, and self-quarantine until they learn the results.
Students who have not tested negative for COVID within the past 48 hours are advised to get tested ASAP and stay in Ithaca, in their residences, and to “severely limit” their interactions with others until they get their COVID test results.
The campus is not on complete lockdown. Offices and labs will remain open, and student dining areas are still open — although students are encouraged to grab their food and go back to their residences. But many facilities, including libraries, fitness centers and gyms, are closed.
In the meantime, visitors and guests are not allowed on campus, except for those picking up students for the winter break. And those visitors are urged to keep their masks on.
Finally, mandatory COVID testing will continue as normal for employees.
Cornell began trending on Twitter in the hours after news of the partial campus shutdown broke, sparking almost 13,000 tweets as of 5 p.m. ET.
“While I want to provide reassurance that, to date, we have not seen severe illness in any of our infected students, we do have a role to play in reducing the spread of the disease in the broader community,” Pollack wrote.
Cornell’s last full day of classes was Dec. 7, and final exams are scheduled through Dec. 18.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/c...ases-in-possible-omicron-outbreak-11639514565
rgp
Well-known Member
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- Milford,OH
Simple IMO........ the vaccination did not & does not work. Except for building the wealth of the drug makers & the the doctors invested in them.
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
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- New Jersey
The first reported cases of Omicron in the U.S. were among fully vaccinated people, if I recall correctly. At least one man had already gotten his booster. But as I mentioned in another thread...fully vaccinated people were getting too loose, deciding it's safe for them to go mask-less and gather in large crowds. My granddaughter who had to get vaccinated in anticipation of living on campus during the first semester, is readying herself to move into the dorm starting her second semester at Stockton U. Turns out she was allowed to take classes online during S1. Now, with Omicron and what's happening at the colleges, I'm kind of hoping they'll go to virtual classes instead.
B-B-B-But.....they keep telling us "Get vaccinated so we can get back to normal." 
And, a few months ago, my doctor said: "Ya know, when we're all vaccinated, this will be a thing of the past & we can get rid of these stupid masks."
I chuckled then & I'm chuckling now.
Just as I chuckle when the ignorant "Covid Blamers" here blame everything on those who aren't vaccinated.
And, a few months ago, my doctor said: "Ya know, when we're all vaccinated, this will be a thing of the past & we can get rid of these stupid masks."
I chuckled then & I'm chuckling now.
Just as I chuckle when the ignorant "Covid Blamers" here blame everything on those who aren't vaccinated.
Mutations are caused by people being unvaccinated during the earlier strains.
^^^ Desperate & ignorant attempt to place blame.
OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
It seems you are partially correct. Other reasons (including vaccines themselves) are state in this article:
"What Causes Viruses to Mutate?
Virus changes are associated with three things. First, sometimes a change in a virus is a pure error.
“A good analogy about virus changes is that it’s like copying a manuscript and, at some point, you're going to have a typo,” Dr. Best says.
Another reason a virus might change is because of pressure from select cells in the body.
“This hypothesis emerged regarding some of the COVID-19 variants. It states if a virus infects a person who doesn’t have a very strong immune system, for example, someone with cancer, then the body is not able to clear the virus very well. Then the virus can say, ‘Hey, how are you going to attack me and make changes based on that?’,” Dr. Best says.
The creation of a vaccine for any new virus could also cause additional mutations."
The rest of the article supports your statement. Full article here:
https://www.unitypoint.org/article.aspx?id=db428f77-6e61-497b-91ce-1317a3396dd8
The mutation allows omicron to evade antibodies, they are saying the unboosted vaccinations which were very effective with delta variant are only 30% effective against omicron, but with the booster then there is a 75% protection. There is still protection against severe disease apparently, due to the different type of immunity systems in our bodies.
There are more detailed explanations of the mutations online if you like the nitty gritty details. I listened to a lecture once on all the details of how a human cell brings in and uses a sugar molecule, and my goodness it was really complicated. The more I hear about biology the more amazed I am. Did you know our bodies make 3 million red blood cells every second! I couldn't believe it when I heard that and had to do a fact-check, it just astounds me.
Brookswood
Senior Member
Cornell is over reacting. Young fully vaccinated people are far less likely to get a serious case of Covid, though it could happen.
Perhaps their legal advisors are trying to protect them from nuisance law suits? That is another possibility.
That's true Sharry, thanks.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/03/health/unvaccinated-variant-factories/index.html