The Start Of A Superspreader
Student coronavirus cases increase following Cal Phi party
Coronavirus cases increased abruptly among Santa Clara students following the Jan. 23 daytime “Aspen in the 80s” frat party.
The most recent testing results, released on Jan. 29, reveal a 4.3% positivity rate with 58 positive cases—an increase in the number of cases from last week according to the Covid-19 Testing Dashboard. This increase in coronavirus cases comes as the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19, known to be more contagious and more deadly, spreads throughout California.
Two students who wished to remain anonymous said their houses have contracted the virus since attending the Cal Phi party. One source has been quarantining since several of her housemates contracted the virus. Another contracted the virus from a roommate who tested positive shortly after attending the party.
According to one of these sources, students’ attitudes towards going out are solely based on the higher likelihood of their own personal health fully recuperating from the virus. They fail to consider vulnerable people living in the community, such as immunocompromised and elderly people.
“While some people do have regrets about going to the party,” said the first source, “I feel like people who attended have mindsets where they were not that worried about what would happen to them personally if they got the coronavirus, and just deemed them contracting it inevitable with the way they go out and see people.”
The Santa Clara reached out to several students who contracted the coronavirus after attending the day party on Jan. 23. All of them declined to comment.
Various student athletes have confirmed at least 25 athletes have tested positive for the virus among the women’s soccer and men’s basketball teams. Athletes were informed by their coaches of the cases.
The Santa Clara Athletics Department declined to comment on the student athlete case numbers.
An anonymous leader of California Phi confirmed that one of their members contracted the virus before the party on Jan. 23. However, the member had been living with a friend unaffiliated with the fraternity. The leader claimed he had no contact with members of the fraternity.
COVID-19 Health Ambassador and Public Health Department Chair Kat Saxton said we may not see a spike in cases until two weeks after an exposure event. This means the full implications of the party are likely yet to come.
“From what I can tell, since getting tested through the school is so easy a lot of people do get tested through there weekly as routine,” said the second anonymous source regarding her observations on where students get tested. “But a lot of people I know do get outside testing when there is a scare for them having coronavirus. People go either through the county or their doctors for rapid tests.”
Saxton stressed that the outbreak will not be confined to just the student community. When students who have unknowingly contracted the virus go to places like Safeway, Trader Joe’s and Target, they endanger the greater community—especially those most vulnerable to the virus’s potentially fatal effects.
“It’s frustrating as someone who is taking this seriously to know that other people who are going out to big parties and not taking it seriously are going to share spaces like the grocery store with families that live around Santa Clara,” said senior Kate Golinvaux. “A lot of people use that Safeway as their primary spot for getting groceries. It’s endangering those people’s health, as well as other students who are being careful.”
At least 75 people attended the party in violation of local and statewide orders, increasing the risk of the event becoming a coronavirus superspreader in the greater community.
The full spike in cases may not appear in Santa Clara’s on-campus testing results until the end of this week.