LOCAL NEWS GOES WORLDWIDE
SUNY ONEONTA
FINDS 83 NEW
CASES TODAY
New Campus Total 188; Plus
One Each In City, At Hartwick
ONEONTA – With news of SUNY Oneonta’s outbreak circling the globe, another 83 news cases were reported a few minutes ago by the Otsego County Department of Health.
In addition, one single case surfaced in neighboring Hartwick College, and another infection surfaced in the campus’ host City of Oneonta.
The health department “continues to investigate a large outbreak,” county Public Health Director Heidi Bond reported.
At a Sunday press conference, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras and college President Barbara Jean Morris reported 105 infections. Today’s 83 would bring that total to 188 in the campus community.
A week ago, Bond’s department reported just 119 COVID-19 cases in the county since the pandemic threat struck in mid-March. That’s more than doubled in just one week, as infections from a few “large parties” in off-campus housing the weekend of Aug. 21-23 quickly multiplied through the college community.
The dramatic increase made headlines, from Fox and CNN in the U.S. to London’s Daily Mail tabloid.
For the time being, there continue to be no local hospitalizations. It’s unclear how many of the 188 campus cases are “active.”
Insane! Shut them down and send them home for the semester and longer if needed. This county was doing well until just the the last week or so and the residents of the county will be the ones who ultimately pay when restrictions get tightened again.
These students think it’s a big joke. More so, SUCO President Barbara Jean Morris went against our Mayor, who shut down buses going to and from SUCO and Hartwick after 9:00 pm. So Barbara Jean Morris went behind his back and hired a private bus company to take students downtown!! That woman needs to be FIRED! Our children are stuck at home while too many of these students only care about parties and getting drunk! Yes, it’s college. Been there, done that. Times are different, it’s called a PANDEMIC!!
Oneonta residents have a right to be angry as well as the parents of students who’s kids followed the guidelines and having to go through this. The school was not prepared and they should have prevented this in the first place. The school failed within the first week. Yes, the careless students that didn’t care and went to off campus parties are at fault, kids do reckless things and the school should have prevented this. It starts at the top. They had plenty of warning because it was happening with other schools that opened before them. SUNY Oneonta needs to fess up and admit they messed up and should have prevented this.
This is so sad! Send them home and go to online teaching! The danger they have put us in! Our family!
Chances are, the kids had COVID when arriving to campus. It is not the schools fault. If the students don’t abide by the rules and do not social distance, party and do not wear masks. The students signed a document stating that they would follow the COVID rules of the campus, and obviously did not follow through. This is their own fault. Twenty somethings think that they are untouchable.
Pool and waste water testing works in the aggregate, and clearly didn’t work here. It is the cheap way out for the state. Individual testing for all should have been required.
Now that it is here, everyone should isolate in place. Sending them home will only spread the virus and endanger even more of the vulnerable.
Send them home! School may be closed but bars are not and home parties obviously can’t be stopped. It’s only going to get worse
I’m sorry but it is the schools fault. 3 SUNY campuses did require testing upon arrival. Ours was not one. This community has like much of the country done it’s part by shutting down as mandated. It has devastated many parts of the local economy and yet we persevered. The thought or lack of thought by the college administration is hard to stomach. Businesses are again closing and possible will not survive. Perhaps the same can be said for the leadership at SUNY. Oneonta.