Why Italy and the USA have failed the Covid-19 test (part 2)

The USA has also failed. Our CDC did not enact early testing. Testing from case 1 has taken a minimum of 3 days, unless you are rich. For some reason, rich people can still go on vacation and travel throughout the country, they can get tests even when they are not sick or seriously sick (which increases the chances of a false negative), and they can get the best healthcare if they do fall ill.

However, the fact is that the average American and his or her doctors must wait up to two weeks for test results. Covid-19 usually lasts 12-15 days. People are forced out of their jobs simply because they have been "exposed." It is a bit late for this. If you have mild symptoms, you are refused a test and told you "probably have it." This is a "precaution" but illogical. If, for example, almost 12,000 people in the state of Indiana have been tested because they had serious symptoms of the illness, and only about 2000 of them ACTUALLY HAVE IT, then our prediction rates are estimating 6x more cases than what we really have.

This is why we have run out of medical supplies. The lack of testing kits and testing ability has made it so that doctors err on the side of caution and wear protective gear 6x more often than necessary. It is still forcing doctors and nurses to use gear more than needed.

Now, we have rapid tests. This means that the number of cases will drastically increase, but we are still 1-2 months out before we will be able to test anywhere near the number of people we need to test each day (at this point). The WHO has stated repeatedly that the way to contain this disease is early detection--not mass quarantine, not more ventilators. The USA created an "emergency" situation by not testing and now is continuing to play on that emergency by enacting everything they can for "support" without actually doing what is really necessary: increase testing. The state of Indiana released information that one of its many universities was going to begin testing and expected to soon be testing up to 2,500 patients each day. Two weeks later we are testing less than 2,000 statewide. If students were back at their colleges instead of holed up at home, perhaps more universities could test. Although anyone can get Covid-19, I have found no reports of anyone under the age of 30 dying in the United States, yet, so this would be a wiser use of our resources.

On top of mass shelter-in-home orders and poor testing, the US has been putting out conflicting orders and statements that do not help calm the public. In some cases it is better to say "We don't really know yet, but we are working on it" instead of saying "We know this..." and then later saying "Wait, that wasn't right." A few states have responded well to calming the panic, for example, Georgia's Covid-19 website clearly shows that about 80% of the people who have died had pre-existing conditions. In another 15%, the status of preexisting conditions is unknown. Out of the current 102 deaths that are recorded, only 4 did not have a pre-existing conditions and all of these were over the age of 55. This isn't reassuring for the sick population over 55, but for the rest of us it should be. They also report the number of cases that are hospitalized, letting people know that everyone does not end up in the hospital. The neutral, calming, blacks, blues, and grays, make it more a page for statistics than sensation. The only thing I could complain about is that there could be a few more pie graphs.

On the other hand, you have Indiana, which gets an F in webpage design. At this time, they have the number of deaths in bigger font that is blood red. The yellow and blue fonts for number of tested and number of confirmed cases fade into the background. They do not report whether the people who have died had pre-existing conditions, and they break down newly confirmed cases by age, without any reference to whether the cases are mild, moderate, or severe. Instead of the light blue Georgia used in reporting the counties with only a few cases, which puts them in the background. Indiana again has opted for a light, reddish-brown that makes counties with even 1 case stand out on the map. How much did they pay for this fear inducing visual? Probably a lot more than Georgia's basic display. Of course the governor himself says the numbers should "put the fear of God in you." As someone who has studied pandemics, they don't. Nor should they make anyone afraid if they are looked at objectively in terms of other more deadly illnesses.

Increasing fear and panic across the USA instead of quieting it means that more people are going to commit abuse, more people are going to commit suicide, and more people are going to be casualties of Covid-19 than just those who contract and die from the disease. Issuing "emergency stay-at-home" orders instead of closing state and locality borders to prevent the spread, failing to test people quickly who go to the doctor with symptoms will increase spread and continue the lack of medical supplies, and failing to diagnose and treat people early will increase the deaths. If this virus were truly a threat, the USA would be in trouble.

How Colleges and Universities are Misusing FERPA

FERPA or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was never meant to block parents from viewing their children's academic record- even at the college level. In fact, it was set in place so both parents and their children (once they reached college) could view their academic record and amend it. Prior to its creation, schools at all levels were collecting huge amounts of information, sometimes insults and non-educational items, such as if the parents were married and what they did for a living. The schools would then give this information away at will to whomever asked for it- even without knowing anything about the person asking. However, if a parent or student when into the school and asked to see the record, the school would claim it is closed and the parent or child could not view it.

Welcome to the 21st century where schools of higher education have returned to deny parents access. Usually, the school will show a parent the clause that says once a child is 18 or enters an institute of higher education, he or she is given FERPA rights. The school will tell the parent that means the child has to sign a waiver before they can see anything! But checking the government website on the matter, you find that all that means is the child is now eligible to request to see the record and to file a request to have the record amended. Further down, the FERPA documentation states that parents for whom the child is a dependent do not have to have the child's permission to look at the record even if the child is over 18.

If you, as a parent, are filling out your child's FAFSA with your information because you are required to do so, that means the child qualifies as an IRS dependent. If you are paying at least half that child's support (and the child is in college), you can claim him or her on your taxes even if he or she is not living with you because that child is at college. Further, student scholarships and grants are not counted as the student's "earned" income. That means if your child doesn't have a good paying job while he or she is in school, you are probably supporting him or her. Now, I make no claims to being an accountant, a lawyer, or an IRS customer service person, so before you claim your son or daughter check with them to make sure the ever changing tax code hasn't done just that on this matter, but if you are able to claim your child as a dependent on your taxes, you can still have access to his or her academic record. The FERPA law does not say you have to claim your child for him or her to be a dependent. It simply says it uses the IRS definition of dependent.

Guess what? So does the FAFSA. In fact, when a college gets you child's SAR (the document sent to them by FAFSA), it says right on it whether or not your child is a dependent or independent child. This should be the end of the story- you fill out the FAFSA then you have access to your child's records. But sadly, denying parents access to their college student's records has become such a problem-higher education facilities denying parents rights- that the government website made a special page for them: here.

The only way to change this policy is to begin reporting these colleges to the government. If your child is considered a dependent by the IRS (until age 24 for students), then you have the right to view his or her record without the student's written consent. Make a request in writing to see your child's record and keep a copy for yourself. And file a complaint if they refuse or require you to provide any further documentation than what they already have.