Covid Tracker – December 15-16

Logo Design by Sarah Feuer, Photo by Benjamin Gamson

POLL: View a slideshow of poll results by clicking through the Gallery box below.

By Benjamin Gamson, Eli Weiss, and Molly Litvak
December 19, 2020

The Boiling Point is conducting a Covid-19 tracking project to watch how Covid cases are progressing not only at school but among friends, family and personal acquaintances of Shalhevet community members.

The survey is not scientific. Originally it was posted whenever there was a Town Hall, but it now is published every other week, and community members including students, faculty and staff have until midnight the following night to respond.

This week’s poll was posted (and linked on Schoology and in other school chats) Dec. 15 – 16. There were 145 students and staff who responded.

Some percentages and raw numbers decreased, showing that a different group of people responded to this survey than previous ones.

Others increased in both percentages and numbers. Results are below.

This week, the number of students and staff who said that they had ever tested positive for Covid-19 went down — from five in the poll that was conducted two weeks ago to three this week. The percentage decreased from 4.9% of 103 respondents to 2.1% of 145 respondents.

Although the number of students and staff who said they had been exposed to coronavirus increased, the percentage decreased due to the increase in the number of people who took the poll. The number increased from 17 people (16.5%) in the Dec. 3 tracker to 23 people (15.9%) as of Dec. 16.

The numbers and percentage of students and staff who responded that someone in their own household had had Covid-19 increased enough to raise the percentage even in the larger group, from 6.8% with 7 respondents on Dec. 3 to 6.9% this week with 10 respondents.

And the percentage of community members who know someone who has contracted Covid-19 also increased between these two polls, from 69.9% (72 out of 103) to 76.6% (111 out of 146).

Likewise, the percentage of people responding who said they knew personally someone who had died from the illness also increased from 14.6% (15 of 103) to 18.6% (27 of 145). This compares with 40 students and staff who knew someone who had died when the Boiling Point Covid Tracker was initiated Oct. 13- 14. That poll had 143 respondents.

Click on the gallery below to see answers to all Dec. 15-16 Covid Tracker questions.

Type “Covid Tracker” in the search box for information on previous time periods.

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Meet the Writer

Benjamin Gamson, Editor-in-Chief

Benjamin Gamson, 12th grade, is in his second year as an Editor-in-Chief of the Boiling Point, having served last year as only the second junior to hold that post himself. Benjamin joined the Boiling Point during his freshman year as a staff writer and became Polling Director during the second semester. As News Editor in his sophomore year, Benjamin managed and edited the Community, Torah and Outside News sections.

Benjamin has authored over 70 articles and podcasts and won awards from organizations including AJPA, JSPA and NSPA. Outside of Boiling Point, he is a member of the Model Congress team and an active participant in the Just Community. When not in school, Benjamin enjoys following politics, current events and baseball, and listening to music.

Eli Weiss, Senior Editor

Eli joined Boiling Point in his first semester as a freshman. Quickly becoming involved, he became assistant web editor in his second semester, during which he helped redesign the website and get the Boiling Point to become a SNO Distinguished Site for the first time.

Besides web design, Eli does design and takes photographs for the Boiling Point. Outside of Boiling Point, Eli is a programmer of the Shalhevet robotics team, guitarist with the band and a grade representative to the Agenda committee. When not in school, Eli enjoys playing guitar, harmonica and listening to music.