Bethany Bump reports in Times Union that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student Yeming Shen died from influenza earlier this week in his apartment in Troy. The 28-year-old had influenza A, a type of flu that "comes on very sudden and severe," said Mary Fran Wachunas, Rensselaer County's public health director. Shen is from China but had not traveled outside the U.S. for at least 13 months, and did not have the novel coronavirus. "As we stated yesterday, we do not believe there is any risk to the public," said Richard Crist, the county's director of operations. "Our condolences to the family and friends of the student." But Dr. Leslie Lawrence, executive director for health and wellness on campus, said on campus there are "five times the number" of flu cases than usual and is currently out of flu vaccine. Read more about this story in Times Union.