Millions of people have been affected by the outbreak and continuing threat of the coronavirus. One group that has been particularly affected (outside of course those who have fallen ill) is students. The predominant reason is that students at schools and universities often find themselves put together in densely populated groups – whether that be for classes, sports events, or other festivities like Match Day celebrations. Yet, these events are potential hotspots for virulent transmission as well – thus, the widespread response of limiting and canceling such festivities. 

 

According to the Student Doctor Network:

“Students at multiple large medical schools, including The University of Washington, Brown University, Stanford University, and Columbia University, have reported outright Match Day celebration cancellations due to coronavirus. Many other schools such as New York University, Case Western University, Baylor University, and Harvard University have not outright cancelled Match Day but have placed restrictions on the celebration, such as barring family and friends from joining and splitting up students into smaller groups to avoid large congregations.” 

 

Mixed Emotions

Although the reasoning for such cancellations seems sound, there are still mixed opinions and feelings. Some medical students feel robbed of an important milestone in their lives and careers.

Reddit user SoundCampaign laments, “My school just cancelled all match day events yesterday, which is a much smaller event compared to graduation. I’m worried we won’t even have a graduation after all our hard work. And my family bought tickets/ hotels for grad already. This over hype or Corona is getting out of hand!”

However, user SaintRGGS retorts, “I don’t know that it’s over hype. This is going to be bad. I’m a peds resident. Flu season sucks. Bad. A presentation leaked by the American Hospital Association predicted 10x the disease burden of a severe flu season. Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/presentation-us-hospitals-preparing-for-millions-of-hospitalizations-2020-3. Look at what’s happening in northern Italy right now: https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-europe-51793619. 133 deaths announced today!” 

 

Truth in Numbers

The sad fact is that large groups of people most certainly increase the transmission of the virus. From a public health standpoint, it makes a whole lot of sense to limit contact between large groups, especially for events which are not essential – like basketball tournaments, and yes, Match Day celebrations.

What are your thoughts on attending Match Day celebrations or the decision by many institutions to limit and cancel them? Let us know in the comments below!