Thread by @TRyanGregory

I was asked today what I think universities should be doing in response to the pandemic.

Buckle up. 🧵

1. Form strategic working groups consisting of experts on campus (epidemiology, virology, immunology, public health, evolutionary biology, engineering, communications, psychology, etc.). LISTEN TO THEM.

2. Do not have all decisions made by a handful of senior administrators with zero relevant expertise based only on (mis)information from public health officials (who also may have no expertise in pandemic management).

3. LEAD. We're supposed to be world-class centres of knowledge creation. It is absurd that we all just follow each other.

No more of this:

"... is consistent with what other universities are doing."

"...following public health guidelines."

"...aligns with shopping malls."

4. Reinstate mask mandates NOW. There is no good reason to have dropped them just as a wave is starting. None.

5. Implement vaccine mandates in time for students to be boosted by the start of the fall semester. In Ontario, third dose uptake was 40% for 18-29 year olds. Most of our students got their second shot a year ago.

6. Pay attention to early warning signals and stop assuming that the pandemic is almost over (being wrong six waves in a row is enough).

7. Acknowledge that COVID is airborne and emphasize ventilation, filtration, and air quality monitoring. Display real-time CO2 data for lecture halls, cafeterias, libraries, gyms, etc. Make CO2 meters available for students to borrow.

8. Where ventilation may be more difficult (e.g., dorms, gyms during exams), install Corsi-Rosenthal boxes or other air filtration systems.

9. Stop trying to get everyone back on campus as quickly as possible. We get it -- the board will be unhappy if you don't bring in ancillary revenues like parking and food. But we have some excellent flexible, intentionally-designed remote options that should get support.

10. Think of the most vulnerable members of the campus community and make decisions that protect them (and everyone else). Lead with empathy.

11. Do not assume that infections are mild in a university-age population. Long COVID is real, and having a significant number of faculty, staff, and students ill at any given moment will be enormously disruptive (see e.g., airports and hospitals).

12. Work together as a sector to advocate for more protections and resources to make campuses safer.

The only effective lobbying universities in Ontario have done was to gain an *exemption* to provincial capacity limits so students could be packed into classes.