• Apply
  • Archives
  • NewsWatch
  • Classifieds
  • Multimedia
    • Ole Miss in Puerto Rico
    • Campus Protests
    • The Queen of Marks
    • Meet Aubrey Armstrong, a Real Champion and Local Celebrity
    • Mississippi voters passed Initiative 65. What’s next?
Friday, January 15, 2021
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Mississippian
  • News

    UM chooses enrollment veteran to fill new vice chancellor position

    Mississippi voters passed Initiative 65. What’s next?

    Mississippi voters passed Initiative 65. What’s next?

    Thousands of scholars rally behind fired UM professor

    Campus prepares for flu season, ‘uptick’ in cases

    University assembles vaccination task force

    Oxford man shot, killed by police after domestic violence situation

    Gallery: Drive-Thru Drag Show

  • Sports

    Gallery: Ole Miss women’s basketball defeated by Mizzou 86-77

    Gallery: Ole Miss men’s basketball falls to Florida 72-63

    Rebels bring home Outback Bowl trophy after 26-20 win over Indiana

    Gallery: Ole Miss defeats Indiana 26-20

    Ole Miss receives bowl-game invite despite LSU loss

    Ole Miss vs Arkansas

    Ole Miss football’s Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah to focus on NFL Draft

  • Arts & Culture

    The secret to The Luv Shak’s success

    A look into the fluctuating Oxford food truck business

    A look into the fluctuating Oxford food truck business

    Film Festival brings classic pastime to a new generation

    UM band plays together for the first time this year

    UM band plays together for the first time this year

  • Opinion
    Cartoon: The way you in my business

    Cartoon: The way you in my business

    Opinion: Insulin is far from “cheap like water”

    Cartoon: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris

    Cartoon: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris

    Opinion: We need civility in American politics

  • Print Editions
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Policy
    • Classifieds
  • Contact
  • News

    UM chooses enrollment veteran to fill new vice chancellor position

    Mississippi voters passed Initiative 65. What’s next?

    Mississippi voters passed Initiative 65. What’s next?

    Thousands of scholars rally behind fired UM professor

    Campus prepares for flu season, ‘uptick’ in cases

    University assembles vaccination task force

    Oxford man shot, killed by police after domestic violence situation

    Gallery: Drive-Thru Drag Show

  • Sports

    Gallery: Ole Miss women’s basketball defeated by Mizzou 86-77

    Gallery: Ole Miss men’s basketball falls to Florida 72-63

    Rebels bring home Outback Bowl trophy after 26-20 win over Indiana

    Gallery: Ole Miss defeats Indiana 26-20

    Ole Miss receives bowl-game invite despite LSU loss

    Ole Miss vs Arkansas

    Ole Miss football’s Elijah Moore and Kenny Yeboah to focus on NFL Draft

  • Arts & Culture

    The secret to The Luv Shak’s success

    A look into the fluctuating Oxford food truck business

    A look into the fluctuating Oxford food truck business

    Film Festival brings classic pastime to a new generation

    UM band plays together for the first time this year

    UM band plays together for the first time this year

  • Opinion
    Cartoon: The way you in my business

    Cartoon: The way you in my business

    Opinion: Insulin is far from “cheap like water”

    Cartoon: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris

    Cartoon: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris

    Opinion: We need civility in American politics

  • Print Editions
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Policy
    • Classifieds
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
The Daily Mississippian
No Result
View All Result

Letter to the Editor: UM asymptomatic testing is free, but there is a cost if we don’t participate.

Jean GispenbyJean Gispen
September 13, 2020
2 min read

Dear Editor, 

I would like to add to the article in last Thursday’s DM about mass testing for COVID on campus. 

The university calls mass testing “sentinel testing” or “surveillance testing.” We want to find out what percentage of asymptomatic people have the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are potential spreaders of COVID. If this percentage is 1%, that means only one person in a group of 100 likely has the virus asymptomatically. But if the percentage is 5%, that means one person in a group of 20 has the virus asymptomatically. And in a group of 50 unmasked fraternity members, if the percentage is 5%, two or three were infected with the virus. If the percentage is 2%, one of them had it.

If the percentage is 20%, don’t get in a car with four other people.

We need to know what the percentage is on our campus, so students, faculty and staff can adjust their behavior accordingly. This knowledge empowers us to take measures that will get us back to normal as quickly as possible.

Invitations to do the survey are being sent out in direct proportion to how many people in a given category are on campus. Students receive 85% of the invitations, staff 9% and faculty 6%.

In the first week, 14.5% of the invited students responded to the invitation. Fewer than half of those actually followed through to receive the test. Roughly 30% of the staff responded, and two-thirds of those were tested. Approximately 36% of the faculty responded, and two-thirds of them were tested. 3,392 students were invited, 380 staff and 228 faculty: 4,000 invitations in all.

By my calculations, this means some 3,300 people ignored the invitation for a free COVID test. Some of them may have had COVID already, some may be off-campus and some may have had symptoms so they knew they would be ineligible. Some people only skim their emails, but email is the principal means of official communication on campus, and in the middle of a pandemic, it is especially important to pay attention to it.

There is a demand for free testing, but it is troubling that the offer for free testing has so far elicited an underwhelming response.

Again, it will be very helpful to know what percentage of people on campus are infected with SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatically. No matter what category you fall into (student, faculty, or staff), if you are invited to test, please test.

Jean Gispen is a physician with the University of Mississippi Employee Health Service.

In Case You Missed It

Gallery: Ole Miss women’s basketball defeated by Mizzou 86-77

12 hours ago

Gallery: Ole Miss men’s basketball falls to Florida 72-63

18 hours ago

UM chooses enrollment veteran to fill new vice chancellor position

4 days ago

Rebels bring home Outback Bowl trophy after 26-20 win over Indiana

2 weeks ago

Gallery: Ole Miss defeats Indiana 26-20

2 weeks ago

Ole Miss receives bowl-game invite despite LSU loss

3 weeks ago

Letter to the Editor: UM asymptomatic testing is free, but there is a cost if we don’t participate.

Jean GispenbyJean Gispen
September 13, 2020
2 min read

Dear Editor, 

I would like to add to the article in last Thursday’s DM about mass testing for COVID on campus. 

The university calls mass testing “sentinel testing” or “surveillance testing.” We want to find out what percentage of asymptomatic people have the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are potential spreaders of COVID. If this percentage is 1%, that means only one person in a group of 100 likely has the virus asymptomatically. But if the percentage is 5%, that means one person in a group of 20 has the virus asymptomatically. And in a group of 50 unmasked fraternity members, if the percentage is 5%, two or three were infected with the virus. If the percentage is 2%, one of them had it.

If the percentage is 20%, don’t get in a car with four other people.

We need to know what the percentage is on our campus, so students, faculty and staff can adjust their behavior accordingly. This knowledge empowers us to take measures that will get us back to normal as quickly as possible.

Invitations to do the survey are being sent out in direct proportion to how many people in a given category are on campus. Students receive 85% of the invitations, staff 9% and faculty 6%.

In the first week, 14.5% of the invited students responded to the invitation. Fewer than half of those actually followed through to receive the test. Roughly 30% of the staff responded, and two-thirds of those were tested. Approximately 36% of the faculty responded, and two-thirds of them were tested. 3,392 students were invited, 380 staff and 228 faculty: 4,000 invitations in all.

By my calculations, this means some 3,300 people ignored the invitation for a free COVID test. Some of them may have had COVID already, some may be off-campus and some may have had symptoms so they knew they would be ineligible. Some people only skim their emails, but email is the principal means of official communication on campus, and in the middle of a pandemic, it is especially important to pay attention to it.

There is a demand for free testing, but it is troubling that the offer for free testing has so far elicited an underwhelming response.

Again, it will be very helpful to know what percentage of people on campus are infected with SARS-CoV-2 asymptomatically. No matter what category you fall into (student, faculty, or staff), if you are invited to test, please test.

Jean Gispen is a physician with the University of Mississippi Employee Health Service.

In Case You Missed It

Gallery: Ole Miss women’s basketball defeated by Mizzou 86-77

12 hours ago

Gallery: Ole Miss men’s basketball falls to Florida 72-63

18 hours ago

UM chooses enrollment veteran to fill new vice chancellor position

4 days ago

Rebels bring home Outback Bowl trophy after 26-20 win over Indiana

2 weeks ago

Gallery: Ole Miss defeats Indiana 26-20

2 weeks ago

Ole Miss receives bowl-game invite despite LSU loss

3 weeks ago

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube
Mississippi Press Association

Sign up for The Morning Briefing, our newsletter with the top news of the day.

SUBSCRIBE

  • News
  • Sports
  • Arts & Culture
  • Opinion
  • Print Editions
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Policy
    • Classifieds
  • Contact

All Rights Reserved to S. Gale Denley Student Media Center 2019

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Sports
  • Arts & Culture
  • Opinion
  • Print Editions
  • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Policy
    • Classifieds
  • Contact

All Rights Reserved to S. Gale Denley Student Media Center 2019

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In