Coronavirus testing during rush?
 

Read this weekend about football players testing positive for Covid-19 at schools including Alabama (3 players), Auburn (3), Oklahoma State, Iowa State, etc. All sent into quarantine. All had just returned for summer workouts and went through the team's testing protocol; all were asymptomatic, I believe.

Made me wonder if something will be done for rush because the odds of girls showing up asymptomatic are real. Will chapter members and PNM's be tested before each day's parties? Where will they quarantine them? Has anyone heard of what schools plan to do?

This makes virtual rush, through almost every round, look like the smart choice despite the challenges it will present. Or delaying it completely until spring which I know likely won't happen but in light of these cases on the football teams, schools have got to start thinking about the implications for rush. As AZTheta said, we continue to see the butterfly effect unfold.

Testing can take several days to return results, during which time a person who didn't have the virus could then become infected with it. Or a person who was infected at the time they were tested but didn't have a high enough viral load to give a positive result could get a negative result but have become sicker in the time between being tested and getting their result back. My dad is an ER doctor currently working in an ER in Tampa for a couple weeks as a relief doctor and when I asked him about testing he said, "Getting a test tells you two things. The lab is open and someone's inside."

His point was that a negative test tells us basically nothing and that any school relying on frequent testing to suss out who is and isn't sick is in for a rough time. I don't see any way any school can have an in-person recruitment this year without accepting that a significant number of the women involved will get sick. There's just no way to know who's sick and transmitting the virus even with testing.

Thanks clemsongirl for this info. There are some schools going all-virtual (Stanford, Arizona State) which I think is the smartest route despite girls not having the traditional experience.

And I was thinking along the lines of taking each girl's temperature with a handheld device, asking other pertinent questions regarding health, things that are being used already in some companies, healthcare facilities, etc. That could help. Wearing masks, as abhorrent as that sounds, would be another way (or at least for the larger rounds). Otherwise one PNM or member could start a spread through many houses which could easily jump through campus. Schools have enough challenges managing this just with classes, dorms, etc., why not add some safety features to rush?

UofSC is saying “in person”
 

For all recruitment this year. This is despite many/most classes going online, social distancing put in place, and masks being required on campus for fall. Greek Village is on-campus. Not really sure how or why their Panhellenic thinks this is ok or do-able.

Agree. And if the number of cases rise by August, I suspect (and hope) that virtual will take over.