Penn State walk-up COVID-19 testing, random surveillance testing to resume. Here’s what’s changed
Penn State will soon resume its walk-up testing and student random testing for COVID-19 — and there will be some changes from both the fall and the spring remote period.
According to the university, walk-up testing for students who are not showing symptoms will be made available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, at both the Hintz Family Alumni Center and the Pegula Ice Arena. And, as previously reported, random testing will be increased this semester from 1% of the university population to up to 2% daily.
Both walk-up testing and random testing for students will resume Monday. They were paused between Feb. 13-28 because all students were already required to be tested twice around that time — pre-arrival and then within two weeks of arrival.
“We will be increasing our outreach to students, encouraging them to get tested frequently, particularly if they feel that they are at risk or may have been exposed,” Kevin Black, interim dean of the College of Medicine, said in a written statement. “Our message is that it doesn’t matter if you have tested last month, last week or yesterday; if you are concerned that you may be infected, we are asking that you come get tested again.”
Hours for walk-up testing varied in the fall. During the remote instruction period this semester, prior to Feb. 13 when the student population was minimal, testing was available at one location — on weekdays only — and opened an hour later than it does now.
According to the latest COVID-19 dashboard update, which included data up to Tuesday, there have been 73 total positive results over the most recent seven days out of 15,980 tests — for a testing positivity rate of 0.5%.
Some 49 students are currently in quarantine and isolation, meaning capacity there stands at 12%.
Students who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should continue to schedule testing appointments with University Health Services, and not utilize walk-up testing. Employees can also use walk-up testing, but they’re urged to instead order a mail-in test kit.
For more information on the university’s COVID-19 testing, visit virusinfo.psu.edu.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 3:08 PM.
