I have two daughters who are home from college. Our year round home is in an area with a population density of roughly 550 persons per square mile. They could go spend the coming weeks and months in an area in which the population density is only about a fifth as dense. They are bright girls and take seriously all precautionary measures. They would much rather stay in our home rather than go live in the more remote area. What are your thoughts?
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Stephen M. Smith, M.D
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Hello Bruce,
Obviously, the answer to your question has more to with risk tolerance than anything. For what is worth, I am not shipping my kids home in Essex Fells to a less crowded environment. I am, however, having my daughter stay in Australia, even after her college closed the program in Sydney and told all the students to come home. Australia has a much lower case load than the US and they take this stuff seriously. My other daughter goes to school in Brisbane, so my younger daughter will move in with her.
Of course, the rate of serious disease in adults under 30 is very low.
I can predict one thing for sure, all these college kids and 20 somethings aren't going to put up with isolation for very much longer. They think they're immortal anyway and we are telling them that their risk of serious COVID disease is very low. We will soon (last night here in the Fells) see these kids/young adults getting together, kind of like speakeasies back in the days of Prohibition.