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> vs the chaos that could entail if they didn't A campus full of runny noses for a couple weeks? These are overwhelmingly young people of which the vast majo

> vs the chaos that could entail if they didn't A campus full of runny noses for a couple weeks? These are overwhelmingly young people of which the vast majority would be perfectly fine.

jacquesm 7y ago
What's the typical age of MIT professors? What's the typical age of the students parents? What would happen if a good 5% of them have more than a runny nose, end up in intensive care and there is a shortage of beds? Go read up for a bit on what is happening in Italy, then check where your country is and advance 4 weeks. See if you still think 'runny noses' is a good analogy.
- chickenpotpie 7y ago
  I don't know if it's fair to compare MIT to Italy. Italy has a very aging population and MIT is very young and Boston has some of the best healthcare in the country.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    The question is whether or not you are willing to take that chance. The people responsible decided - rightly, in my opinion - that they do not want that responsibility. Risk = impact times likelihood.
  - greedo 7y ago
    And Italy has some of the best healthcare in the world. When you have only so many ICU beds and ventilators, it doesn't matter.
  - roel_v 7y ago
    "and Boston has some of the best healthcare in the country." I hear people say that all the time of all sorts of places, but what does that mean? Does Boston have (beyond some baseline) more respiratory aid machines than other places? More virus or respiratory system specialists? Better or more nurses? If they do, why? It doesn't matter if they have a bunch of world class brain surgeons. I'd imagine the area would have roughly the same level of materials and skills in this specific domain that other big developed areas have. I wonder what makes people so sure about the specific capabilities of all the areas they claim to be (much) better than other areas.
    - droithomme 7y ago
      Massachusetts was one of the first states to attempt universal health care coverage. They also have some genuinely fantastic research hospitals. The best in the nation? Not sure and maybe not. But "some of the best", yeah, that's quite reasonable. And good enough? I'd say ... no.
      - roel_v 7y ago
        "Massachusetts was one of the first states to attempt universal health care coverage. They also have some genuinely fantastic research hospitals." shrug. The position you need to defend, the matter under discussion, in this case is: how does that relate to them being better equipped to deal with this specific virus/outbreak/pandemic/situation?
    - wespiser_2018 7y ago
      Totally agree. Massachusetts has some of the best healthcare in the country if you specifically benefit from some of the research going on at Mass General or another research hospital. But even then, just going to Mass Gen for a respiratory infection won't really let you benefit from the concentration of expertise. You just need 02, possibly a tube, and attention from non-sick healthcare workers.
- fzeroracer 7y ago
  You don't see the irony in sending students home to their parents when some of them might be asymptomatic, right? Or if they catch it during travel? The correct method of action here is to tell professors to stay home and students to stay put. Not to tell students to leave and travel! That's absolute madness.
  - xur17 7y ago
    > You don't see the irony in sending students home to their parents when some of them might be asymptomatic, right? Or if they catch it during travel? Most students are going to be traveling home in May anyways - moving this to now, while the risk of students being infected and asymptomatic seems like the lesser of the 2 evils.
enitihas 7y ago
They would overwhelm the local medical system, making it impossible to care for the extreme cases.

> vs the chaos that could entail if they didn't A campus full of runny noses for a couple weeks? These are overwhelmingly young people of which the vast majority would be perfectly fine.

jacquesm 7y ago

What's the typical age of MIT professors? What's the typical age of the students parents? What would happen if a good 5% of them have more than a runny nose, end up in intensive care and there is a shortage of beds? Go read up for a bit on what is happening in Italy, then check where your country is and advance 4 weeks. See if you still think 'runny noses' is a good analogy.

chickenpotpie 7y ago
I don't know if it's fair to compare MIT to Italy. Italy has a very aging population and MIT is very young and Boston has some of the best healthcare in the country.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  The question is whether or not you are willing to take that chance. The people responsible decided - rightly, in my opinion - that they do not want that responsibility. Risk = impact times likelihood.
- greedo 7y ago
  And Italy has some of the best healthcare in the world. When you have only so many ICU beds and ventilators, it doesn't matter.
- roel_v 7y ago
  "and Boston has some of the best healthcare in the country." I hear people say that all the time of all sorts of places, but what does that mean? Does Boston have (beyond some baseline) more respiratory aid machines than other places? More virus or respiratory system specialists? Better or more nurses? If they do, why? It doesn't matter if they have a bunch of world class brain surgeons. I'd imagine the area would have roughly the same level of materials and skills in this specific domain that other big developed areas have. I wonder what makes people so sure about the specific capabilities of all the areas they claim to be (much) better than other areas.
  - droithomme 7y ago
    Massachusetts was one of the first states to attempt universal health care coverage. They also have some genuinely fantastic research hospitals. The best in the nation? Not sure and maybe not. But "some of the best", yeah, that's quite reasonable. And good enough? I'd say ... no.
    - roel_v 7y ago
      "Massachusetts was one of the first states to attempt universal health care coverage. They also have some genuinely fantastic research hospitals." shrug. The position you need to defend, the matter under discussion, in this case is: how does that relate to them being better equipped to deal with this specific virus/outbreak/pandemic/situation?
  - wespiser_2018 7y ago
    Totally agree. Massachusetts has some of the best healthcare in the country if you specifically benefit from some of the research going on at Mass General or another research hospital. But even then, just going to Mass Gen for a respiratory infection won't really let you benefit from the concentration of expertise. You just need 02, possibly a tube, and attention from non-sick healthcare workers.
fzeroracer 7y ago
You don't see the irony in sending students home to their parents when some of them might be asymptomatic, right? Or if they catch it during travel? The correct method of action here is to tell professors to stay home and students to stay put. Not to tell students to leave and travel! That's absolute madness.
- xur17 7y ago
  > You don't see the irony in sending students home to their parents when some of them might be asymptomatic, right? Or if they catch it during travel? Most students are going to be traveling home in May anyways - moving this to now, while the risk of students being infected and asymptomatic seems like the lesser of the 2 evils.

enitihas 7y ago

They would overwhelm the local medical system, making it impossible to care for the extreme cases.