Amid one of the worst regional COVID-19 outbreaks in the country, 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒 students need to find a way to party safely this fall, and the lively bar scene that 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒 is known for may pose a danger to the health of the campus community.
The bars and restaurants that dot the streets of Five Points are notoriously crowded. An average Friday or Saturday night, in the case of bars like The Cotton Gin or restaurants like The Salty Nut, means being packed in small quarters with potentially hundreds of others for an extended period of time.
It鈥檚 no surprise that those circumstances aren鈥檛 helpful in mitigating the spread of COVID-19, and the indoor setting, poor ventilation and numerous uncleaned shared surfaces inside these bars only serve to make the problem worse. Five Points may be hard to give up this fall, but all signs point to it being a hotbed of COVID-19 transmission, meaning students should be ready to abstain from the bar-hopping 鈥� at least until the problem improves.
A better idea might be having a small party 鈥� but how can students party safely?
To start, take the recent headlines of deaths and infections from 鈥淐OVID-19 parties鈥� in Texas and seriously. The final words of the who died after attending a 鈥淐OVID party鈥� were, 鈥淚 think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it鈥檚 not.鈥�
If you鈥檙e invited somewhere and you know you鈥檝e potentially been in the vicinity of someone who has the virus, don鈥檛 endanger everyone else by going.
If you鈥檙e going to have a party, keep the guest list small. Try to invite people you鈥檝e been seeing on a consistent basis and try to have a rough idea of where everyone has been.
Additionally, keep the parties outside if possible. In the open air, the droplets that transmit COVID-19 鈥渄isperse more quickly than they do inside,鈥� according to , director of infection prevention and control for Rochester Regional Health. Keep congregations outdoors, where there is enough space to spread out a bit and enough ventilation to help dissipate airborne droplets carrying the virus.
This might go without saying, but, even while you鈥檙e at a party, wash your hands and don鈥檛 touch your face. Vox that soap 鈥� any soap 鈥� 鈥渁bsolutely annihilates viruses like the coronavirus,鈥� making it the easiest and most effective way to stop the spread.
Another tip is to avoid shared surfaces. This means that everyone should have their own cups, cans, bottles, plates, food, vapes and anything else that could be shared. Vox also that one of the most important parts of socializing safely is 鈥渁voiding these surfaces or taking steps to clean them before you touch them.鈥�
Additionally, Vox partying with a 鈥渃losed circle鈥� of friends that you see often and who have agreed to abstain from seeing many others. This lessens the risk that one or more of you contracts the virus elsewhere and brings it back.
Startlingly, the number of COVID-19 cases in individuals under 30 is approaching half of all cases in South Carolina. , 鈥渟ince June 1 there has been a 436.5% increase in newly reported cases in the 21-30 age group in South Carolina.鈥�
This makes it pressingly important that 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒 students, who are among the demographic in which the number of cases is exploding right now, take the threat seriously and make the right choices to protect themselves and their peers.
College kids will party, and that is unavoidable. What is avoidable, however, is contracting COVID-19 in the process. Be safe, know what is at stake and do your part to keep 麻豆小蝌蚪传媒 healthy and secure.