Current Status of NIU Student Body

Changes to Undergraduate Courses and In-person Activities

Sept. 11, 2020

Effective immediately, we are temporarily moving undergraduate courses online and expect all students who reside on campus, and undergraduates who live in DeKalb County, to limit in-person activities and interactions until Monday, Sept. 28.

Read letter from President Freeman

Why is Action Necessary?

More than 120 students are currently positive for COVID-19, and more are currently quarantining due to exposure and/or pending test results. Through contact tracing, we have determined that the vast majority of student cases involve those who live off-campus or who attended off-campus gatherings where masks were not worn and physical distancing was not respected. We are also aware that some students are not fully cooperating with health officials and following guidelines on reporting symptoms and potential exposure.

These careless and unacceptable activities have led to a substantial increase in the overall positivity rate for DeKalb County and put our entire community at risk. We continue to work closely with our partners at the DeKalb County Health Department, and together determined that we need to take immediate and significant action to reduce opportunities for further spread.

Limiting In-person Activities and Interactions

Effective immediately, the university expects all students who live on campus, and undergraduates who reside in DeKalb or the county, to strictly limit their in-person interactions to only those that are essential such as obtaining meals and groceries, seeking medical care or attending work. It also means absolutely avoiding gatherings or parties, indoors or out.

I know that this is very frustrating, especially for those students who have been diligently following the rules and prioritizing the health of fellow Huskies. By taking bold measures and limiting exposure now, however, we have the best opportunity to stop these trends.

Changes in Course Delivery

Undergraduate courses will be delivered online beginning Monday, Sept. 14, through Friday, Sept. 25. A few exceptions may be granted by the Provost in response to a faculty member’s request. Please check your Blackboard course site after noon Sunday, Sept. 13, to see if your course is one of the exceptions. Our intention at this time is for in-person classes to resume Monday, Sept. 28.

On and Off-campus/DeKalb Housing Restrictions

On-campus students are required to stay in their residence hall room as much as possible for the next two weeks. Students can leave their residences to:

• Pick up meals from dining facilities or the Holmes Student Center 
• Pick up to-go meals from local establishments
• Pick up deliveries (grocery and restaurant deliveries)
• Spend time outdoors doing individual activities while masked
• Use university Wi-Fi, computer labs or the Founders Memorial Library
• Utilize the Student Health Center and Counseling and Consultation Services
• Take care of essential errands (grocery store, medical appointments, getting a flu shot) 
• Attend work (both on- and off-campus) after getting approval from supervisors
• Participate in off-campus internships or clinicals organized by a student’s college
• Manage child care responsibilities

Undergraduate students who live off-campus in DeKalb County (apartments, houses or fraternity and sorority houses) should stay in their respective location and also follow the above guidance for limiting in-person activities/interactions to those that are essential.

University Events and Student Organizations

All planned, in-person events have been canceled for the next two weeks, but virtual events will continue as scheduled. Student organizations are not to meet in person over the next two weeks.

Gathering/Parties

We cannot emphasize enough that the points of origin for the spread of COVID-19 at NIU are parties and gatherings, especially ones where participants have failed to wear masks and physically distance. It is because of these activities that we now must take this two-week pause.

We want to be clear that ALL student gatherings and parties of any size, whether on campus or off in the DeKalb area, are strictly prohibited during these two weeks. This includes residence hall common areas (such as lobbies, lounges and hallways), Greek housing and all outdoor spaces (parking lots, streets and lagoon areas).

Guests and Parking

All guests of students are prohibited from campus, indoors and outdoors, weekdays and weekends. Guests are expected to voluntarily abide and comply with requests to leave; those who do not can be cited for trespassing.

Additional on-campus parking restrictions have been put in place for after 5 p.m. weekdays and on weekends.

Surveillance Testing

The university will continue to do surveillance testing during this time. Students who have been scheduled to participate must come to their appointments.

Students Currently Isolating/Quarantining or Recovered

Students who are currently under orders by the DeKalb County Health Department to quarantine or isolate must continue to do so as directed. Students who have previously tested positive and recovered from COVID-19 are also expected to abide by requirements outlined here.

NIU Helpline and DeKalb County Health Department

We need all students to cooperate in an open and honest manner with NIU and public health officials about testing, tracking and tracing efforts. All students who have been exposed, have symptoms or test positive MUST notify the NIU Helpline (815-753-0444), respond to any calls from state or local health departments and follow guidance of public health officials.

Responsibility and Accountability

Every Huskie is expected to take very simple, responsible measures to keep one another safe. When Huskies choose otherwise, such as hosting and participating in gatherings, breaking quarantines/ isolations or failing to cooperate with public health officials, we must hold one another accountable and take immediate action. We have begun taking measures with individuals and student organizations, including our Greek system, for these types of actions that have put the health and safety of our community at risk, and will continue to do so moving forward. Failure to comply with the instructions in this letter will result in disciplinary measures that can range from written warnings and loss of university privileges to semester-long suspensions and, if necessary, permanent removal from the university.

Together Forward

The actions we’re taking might seem harsh and too challenging, but they are precedented by other universities and provide students and NIU the necessary time and precautions to be able to get ahead of an outbreak. We have confidence that if we work together as Huskies, and take this situation and each other’s well-being seriously, that we will see improvement and can resume our semester plans. Your fellow Huskies and the DeKalb community are counting on you.

COVID-19 Long hauler injuries

Months after Covid-19 infection, patients report breathing difficulty and fatigue

By Ryan Prior, CNN 5 hrs ago

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Months after Covid-19 infection, patients report breathing difficulty and fatigue

It's been five months since Lucy Gahan contracted Covid-19, and her life still hasn't returned to normal.

© Courtesy Corey Coopersmith Six months after contracting Covid-19, fitness consultant Corey Coopersmith now uses a CPAP machine to help push enough air into his lungs.

Gahan, a clinical psychologist in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom, hasn't been able to return to work.

The disease causes what she calls "storms," disabling periods when she feels shortness of breath, numbness in her hands and feet and her heart rate shoots up from simple tasks. Even taking a shower is possible only during an occasional respite in symptoms.

"In May and June, I could barely talk because I was so ill," she said.

Before contracting the disease in early April, the mother of two ran three times a week and had a regular yoga routine.

"I can only walk as far as the corner," she said. "In terms of running, I can't imagine when that will happen, if ever."

She is one of thousands around the world for whom Covid-19 has turned into a chronic condition. Gahan and other Covid-19 "long haulers" feel they aren't yet getting recognition for an illness that has disabled them for months, with no end in sight.

"I'm a clinical psychologist, and this is not anxiety," she said. "If doctors just say 'We don't know,' it's better than saying Covid symptoms only last two weeks."

© Corey Coopersmith An immunologist finally found disturbances in Coopersmith's immune system that appeared to be on par with HIV/AIDS even though he doesn't have HIV.

Many hospitalized for Covid-19 at risk to become 'long haulers'

About three-quarters of those hospitalized for Covid-19 could become long haulers, according to a paper uploaded to the pre-print server medRxiv on August 14 without having yet been vetted by outside experts or accepted for publication.

Researchers from the Academic Respiratory Unit of the North Bristol NHS Trust in the UK looked at 110 Covid-19 patients, whose illnesses required hospital stays for a median of five days between March 30 and June 3.

Twelve weeks after patients were released from the hospital, 74% of them reported symptoms, including breathlessness and excessive fatigue.

Despite these symptoms, however, 104 of the 110 patients in the study had normal basic blood test results, with just 12% showing an abnormal chest X-ray and 10% showing restrictive lung function through spirometry tests.

The British Medical Journal released new guidance for health providers in August on how to treat long-haul Covid-19 patients, estimating that up to 10% of all people who have tested positive could develop a prolonged illness. The guidance includes specific blood tests to perform, possibly referring patients to pulmonary rehabilitation and having them use pulse oximetry at home to measure oxygen saturation in the blood.

Results like these fly in the face of a narrative that took hold early in the pandemic, in which many medical professionals believed that the average Covid-19 patient would be sick for a couple weeks, clear the virus and be fine afterward.

That turns out not to be the case for everyone. The BMJ guidance cited "weak or absent antibody response, relapse or reinfection, inflammatory and other immune reactions, deconditioning, and mental factors such as post-traumatic stress" as contributing to longer-term symptoms. It acknowledged that similar parallels had occurred in patients with SARS and MERS.

"The classic case we all have in our hands is not always what really happens," said Dr. MeiLan King Han, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at the University of Michigan. "For the patients I have followed, many continue to complain of cough, breathing issues and severe fatigue long after their first infection."

Long haulers and dysautonomia

One of the key issues in caring for each long-haul Covid-19 patient is to figure out how many of their symptoms can be chalked up to the heart and lungs and how much of the illness is actually the result of a deeper form of neurological dysfunction the coronavirus has unspooled, according to Noah Greenspan, a New York-based physical therapist and founder of the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation.

Before engaging in physical or respiratory therapy, he asks that all his patients get a full workup from their doctor to rule out a cardiac condition, stroke or pulmonary embolism before starting physical therapy.

Some patients' symptoms are mild and can start a more traditional rehab plan, he said, "but there are others, which are turning into the biggest group of people, which are these long haulers."

The primary trend across the Covid-19 long haulers that Greenspan is working with is a condition called dysautonomia, a condition marked by a miscommunication between the autonomic nervous system and the rest of the body.

The autonomic nervous system regulates automatic body functions such as breathing, sleep and digestion. When it's not working, symptoms can present in myriad different ways, depending on the person.

"Reach into a bag of symptoms and pull out a bag of symptoms, and that's what they have for the day," Greenspan said. "It's a twisted ball of yarn and takes a week to unravel one string."

While shortness of breath and cardiovascular problems do present in his patients, Greenspan said, these are not usually the most common underlying cause of their misery.

Gahan and others with long-haul Covid-19 symptoms face a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which refers to a sharp rise in heart rate that occurs when moving from a reclining to standing position. The pull of gravity causes blood to pool in the legs. This condition can cause dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting.

"Their heart rate goes up 50 to 75 points if they get up to get water," Greenspan said. "They have fast heart rates that don't have anything to do with what they're actually doing, that are not commensurate with their workload."

Many patients are exhibiting neurological symptoms consistent with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, according to the BMJ and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. That diagnosis requires at least six months of symptoms, a benchmark most long haulers haven't yet reached.

For many, lung damage not the biggest issue

Many Covid-19 patients feel that the medical system is gaslighting them, telling them there's nothing wrong even though their whole lives have been upended by Covid-19's aftermath.

Corey Coopersmith, a 36-year-old fitness consultant in Las Vegas, hasn't been able to work since first getting sick in late February. He suffers a constant ebb and flow of symptoms, and yet visit after visit to medical specialists has turned out a series of "normal" lab tests.

"A month ago, I had a pulmonary exam, and I got 120% on the gas exchange test," Coopersmith said, noting the doctor told him, "Your lung function is amazing."

But a breakthrough came when he finally visited an immunologist who performed tests that indicated abnormally low function of immune cells, including T cells and B cells.

"Have you been tested for HIV?" the immunologist asked Coopersmith, he recalled. "Your blood work looks like someone about to get AIDS."

A mixed martial arts fighter in his 20s, Coopersmith was in great shape when he contracted Covid-19 in February, boasting of a resting heart rate of 58 beats per minute.

Now though, when he wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, POTS can drive his heart rate to 200.

To make it possible to sleep under his new constraints, he bought a continuous positive airway pressure machine, a device with a face mask that pushes oxygen into his lungs.

"I lie there gasping for air, fighting for life," he said.

For many, lung damage not the biggest issue

Coopersmith is one of many Covid survivors trying to grasp why he feels so breathless even though his lung function is excellent.

"I feel like my lungs have recovered quite well," Gahan, the clinical psychologist in the UK, said.

Her main issue has been pinpointing what has been causing the storms of illness, which are primarily neurological symptoms, including migraines and numbness in her feet and hands. She feels they can be explained by dysautonomia.

"I can't do anything except to just go to bed," she said, noting how lights and sounds and emotional stressors exacerbate her ongoing sickness. "I can't stand any interaction."

Patients hope their stories of halted recoveries might dissuade others from taking risks with infection by traveling, partying or gathering in large groups prior to development and distribution of a vaccine.

"It's not about fatigue. It's about really nasty symptoms that take over your whole life for who knows how long," Gahan said. "Think about people like me when you're thinking about what decisions you should make.

Above is from:  https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/months-after-covid-19-infection-patients-report-breathing-difficulty-and-fatigue/ar-BB18YZOU?ocid=msedgdhp

Jared Kushner Has A Wild Viewpoint Of How To Deal With Trump

Jared Kushner Has A Wild Viewpoint Of How To Deal With Trump

In Bob Woodward’s “Rage,” the president’s senior adviser claims the Cheshire Cat in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is key to understanding his father-in-law.

By Jenna Amatulli

It seems Jared Kushner has a playbook of sorts for how to deal with his father-in-law, and it’s... quite unexpected.

In a copy of Bob Woodward’s “Rage” obtained by HuffPost, the White House adviser is quoted as offering some bonkers advice to those interfacing with President Donald Trump.

For one, Kushner said last February that if people wanted to understand Trump, then there were four texts they must read: Peggy Noonan’s essay “Over Trump, We’re as Divided as Ever,” Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (specifically quotes from the Cheshire Cat), Chris Whipple’s book “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency” and Scott Adams’ book “Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter.”

If your reading card is full, here’s a summation: Noonan’s opinion column calls Trump “crazy” and his presidency “hellish,” and the Cheshire Cat quote Kushner specifically zeroes in on is: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there.” Whipple’s book essentially says that the chiefs of staff determine the fate of a country, and Adams’ book declares that Trump “can invent any reality.”

Woodward’s analysis of these suggested reading materials is that Kushner is painting his wife’s dad as “crazy, aimless, stubborn, and manipulative.”

“I could hardly believe anyone would recommend these as ways to understand their father-in-law, much less the president they believed in and served,” Woodward wrote.

Other wild remarks from Kushner that Woodward cites include the claim that in the early years of the Trump administration, “20 percent of the people we had [working in the White House] thought Trump was saving the world, and 80 percent thought they were saving the world from Trump. Now, I think we have the inverse.” 

It remains unclear if Kushner thinks 20% of the presidential staff believing they’re saving the world from Trump is a good thing or a bad thing.

Kushner’s more recent efforts have been in campaigning for Trump’s reelection, which Woodward reported became a “goal” for him in July. Despite the global health crisis ravaging our country, Woodward quotes Kushner as saying: “The goal is to get his head from governing to campaigning.”

Above is from:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jared-kushner-trump-bob-woodward_n_5f5ae90ec5b67602f60313c5?ncid=APPLENEWS00001&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcHBsZS5uZXdzL0FOeHFYMmFnS1NxMnZMLVFZTEZwQXpR&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC5i4BcDC1TQBKTynOQyvOrCiUUWMK8KfUnSLqR6iCIDaFAbbB86jFf4W6nyzfhVNkfOgpWybQZeaSqelxZaThfdrcGcrvbK9WYbNjPt58i70Jo8YIAeE2PtOXdKj9iTELRJo4iqMlgtlD1vZxWbE1GkIOyM-Rdqwl6BgCzOq1Lr