At what point — infections, hospitalizations or deaths — will college administrations start putting the health of their campuses and the local community ahead of "making money?"
"Outbreaks at colleges across the United States are beginning to spill off campus and infect surrounding communities — a worrisome trend that does not bode well for other school reopenings this fall.
Among the top 20 metropolitan areas where new cases per capita rose the most over the past two weeks, nearly half were college towns where large public universities recently reopened their campuses.
At the University of Alabama, more than 1,300 students and staff members have tested positive, prompting the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Ala., to close all bars in the city for two weeks in the hope of slowing the explosive outbreak.
In the first week of classes, Iowa State University in Ames found 104 cases and the University of Iowa in Iowa City had 607 students test positive. The outbreaks prompted Gov. Kim Reynolds to close bars in six counties through most of September. Other college towns with the greatest rise in cases relative to population include Oxford, Miss. (University of Mississippi); Lawrence, Kan. (University of Kansas); Auburn, Ala. (Auburn University); Pullman, Wash. (Washington State University); Statesboro, Ga. (Georgia Southern University); and Grand Forks, N.D. (University of North Dakota)."
