Photo by Victoria Durgin/The Quill
By Makenna Hall, Managing Editor of Content & Victoria Durgin, Editor in Chief
As Susquehanna welcomes students and staff back to campus in February, two COVID-19 testing facilities have been prepared- one in the Garrett Sports Complex Fieldhouse and the other in Aikens Hall.
The testing site in the fieldhouse is set up for screening and surveillance, preparing to test all students as they arrive on campus and throughout the semester.
Coaches and assistant coaches will assist medical professionals with testing at the Garrett testing facility, according to Medical Director for Student Health Services Sonia Dayal.
According to Director of Facilities Chris Bailey, the testing procedure itself will be very similar to how students were tested outside of Garrett in the tents last fall semester.
The true difference, according to Bailey, is that the university is now equipped with an on-campus facility that can analyze COVID-19 tests. This means all students tested on campus, because there will be no travel time for their tests, will receive results in a matter of hours.
“Setting up these services will allow us to remove people from quarantine much faster,” Bailey said.
The rapid tests that students will take when they first get to campus will be checked again by a diagnostic test if the first comes back positive.
“We’re really using two different strategies, kind of double-testing to make sure that any positive screen is confirmed by a diagnostic test,” Dayal said, “And during that interval between rapid test being positive and diagnostic test returning back with results the student would be appropriately placed in isolation housing so that we’re keeping the campus and community safe.”
Both the first and second round of tests are known as PCR tests, a kind of test that has been shown to be accurate and has a much quicker turnaround than other COVID-19 tests on the market.
According to Bailey, the on-campus facility has been equipped with the proper technology and workforce to accurately analyze all tests students will be given throughout the semester.
The lounge area in Aikens Hall has been properly equipped to become an addition to the student health center, as the annex tent in the health center parking lot will not be used until the weather is more appropriate.
The Aikens lounge area was not in use in the fall due to ventilation concerns. Facilities has ensured that the area has proper ventilation and airflow. Dividers have also been put in place to provide privacy for those in the center.
This space will be used to test individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19 and/or have been experiencing symptoms. All of the testing at this site will be done by nurses and medical providers.
In addition to the rapid tests that will be used in the spring, Dayal noted that there will still be a variety of COVID-19 tests used on campus.
The wastewater testing program initiated in the fall will still be in use in the spring. According to Bailey, the wastewater apparatus caught about 60 percent of the COVID-19 cases on campus during the fall semester.
Dayal said that workers in the health center are encouraging students to call the center with any concerns they might have, even if it is a symptom that is slightly out of the norm for them.
“Even if that feels like a sinus infection to them or feels like a regular cold. We know that COVID infection can sometimes seem very minor but it’s really important for us to identify it early and to try to minimize spread and to try to help that person,” Dayal said.
When a student calls the health center with a COVID-19 concern, the staff will help them determine if they can come to the regular health center location or if they will be met in the Aikens testing facility.
Students who test positive and remain isolated on campus can expect daily video calls with a doctor during the weekdays, through Telemedicine, a secure video connection, or a different platform if requested by the student.
For students that have been exposed to COVID-19 and have to quarantine for two weeks, there will be emailed reminders from health staff to do daily self-checks and symptom assessments.
An after hours nurse service will also be in place again this semester, allowing students to get help 24/7 but specifically at night and on the weekends when the health center may not be open. The nurses on the line will have access to local hospitals and urgent care centers and will be able to contact Susquehanna staff if necessary, according to Dayal. The number is 844-936-1731 and can be found on the health center’s website and also on the health center’s voicemail.
Susquehanna is strongly encouraging students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated for COVID-19 if they are able to do so. Susquehanna’s leadership team is actively discussing if vaccinated individuals will be required to undergo testing and surveillance.
According to Bailey, staff who are tasked with administering the COVID-19 testing have already begun to receive the vaccine from local hospitals, with more to follow as vaccines become available.
The leadership team and the student health center staff are committed to staying up to date with public health-related studies and guidelines to ensure that public health measures are being thoughtfully implemented on campus, according to Dayal.
