College Students Are at Risk of COVID Hospitalization
The Claim
College students are not at risk of being hospitalized for COVID-19.
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Emerging story
Andrew Bostom – author of books like Sharia Versus Freedom and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism – published a tweet regarding COVID-19 statistics at universities. He alleged that at 37 U.S. universities, there have been almost no hospitalizations and not been a single reported death. As a result, he argues that college students have been lied to and that there is no need for colleges to be closed. He further stated that college students have a higher chance of being struck by lightning than they do being hospitalized for COVID-19.
The claim soon went viral on social media.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that Bostom’s sample size is relatively small. In a similar survey, the New York Times surveyed over 1,600 colleges in the US. They found that there have been at least 70 deaths among college students from COVID-19 (note that this data includes faculty). The fall semester, which is still in progress, has yet to have any official numbers released. Another study by Science News showed that many young adults have been hospitalized from COVID-19 complications.
Moreover, Bostom got his data from the colleges' official COVID-19 webpages. Many of them do not cite hospitalizations or deaths at all. That does not mean that they do not exist, only that they are not officially announced. It has been shown that some colleges are willing to hide the real statistics, so as to not discourage prospective students.
