Testing at Irvine

UC Irvine to test students living on campus weekly for COVID-19

Alicia Robinson | Orange County Register | September 22, 2020 

A majority of classes at UC Irvine will be taught remotely when the fall term starts Oct. 1, but that doesn’t mean the campus is empty of students. With about 3,600 students already living in campus accommodations and another 3,500 expected to move in by the end of the month, the school launched a coronavirus testing program recently to make sure every student gets a test before school starts – and university officials plan to require weekly testing after that. The goal is “to protect the health and well-being of our campus,” because for some students, it’s the safest or most practical place for them to be, said Dr. Albert Chang, medical director of UCI’s Student Health Center.

The school enrolls many international students, young adults from the foster care system and students whose family home may be crowded, shared with higher-risk relatives or have spotty WiFi – making campus housing a more workable option, UCI communications officer Sheri Ledbetter said. Some graduate students are there to work in research labs, which opened over the summer at about a third of their normal occupancy...

The process usually takes about six minutes, and results are available within 48 hours, Student Health Center Executive Director J. Patrick Haines said... No one in the first round tested positive, Ledbetter said Tuesday, Sept. 22. The second phase, which just began, entails collecting specimens from arriving students before they move in, and asking students and staff to check themselves daily for symptoms... Newly arrived students get a welcome kit containing masks and other protective equipment and a “social distance blanket” that offers a visual cue to keep six feet from others. Dorm residents will part of a “pod” of six students that quarantine together for the first week.

Everyone is asked to sign the “Anteater Pledge” (named for the school’s mascot) that they will follow COVID-19 precautions, inform the school if they become infected, take part in contact tracing and the like. And while UCI officials can’t prevent students from attending parties or group activities, “if there’s a really egregious violation, the conduct process will kick in,” Ledbetter said... The university is expecting and preparing for outbreaks. With campus housing at less than half its capacity – about 7,200 students are expected in residences that can hold 16,000 – there’s room to isolate sick people if needed...

Full story at https://www.ocregister.com/2020/09/22/uc-irvine-to-test-students-living-on-campus-weekly-for-covid-19/