With many colleges and universities choosing to reopen for in-person instruction this fall, campuses will look different for returning students.
The University of California San Diego, for example, is requiring that students, faculty and staff undergo COVID-19 testing when returning to campus.
“We certainly want to try to minimize [the spread] on our campus to every extent possible,” said Dr. Robert Schooley, infectious disease specialist at UC San Diego Health. “We want to make sure that we can deliver our educational mission as best we can in this condition.”
Testing sites are located around campus for individuals to swab themselves orally. Samples will be picked up every few hours for testing and barcodes on the swabs will be connected to each person’s medical history. Results are provided within 24 hours, according to Schooley.
Testing is free at UC San Diego Health locations or through the school’s Student Health Services.
To ensure there is no shortage of supplies, the university sources tests from several manufacturers.
“If one goes down, we will go to another one,” said Schooley. “We have some redundancy there which is good.”
