Photo by Makenna Hall/The Quill
By Victoria Durgin, Editor in Chief
Susquehanna has changed course on a previously-announced plan to use wastewater testing as one of several COVID-19 safety measures.
This change was made largely because research on the virus shows individuals who recover from COVID-19 can still “shed” the cells of the virus for 90 days past recovery.
According to Susquehanna’s COVID-19 coordinator Dr. David Richard, this would have meant positive wastewater samples almost immediately after students began arriving on campus without those samples actually leading to true positives on campus.
Richard said this would lead to positive results in the wastewater testing that would not actually mean positive cases on campus.
For example, if Sally had COVID-19 in December, and has since recovered and is living in a residential hall on campus, Sally would shed virus particles. Those particles would be picked up in the wastewater sample and would trigger a quarantine.
The problem here, though, is that Sally does not have COVID-19 and would not be a transmission risk.
Richard told The Quill and Susquehanna faculty that the university is aware of “quite a number” of students who reported positive for COVID-19 at some point over winter break.
According to Director of Facilities Chris Bailey, the wastewater testing caught about 60 percent of cases on campus last fall.
To replace, or mitigate the loss of, the success of the wastewater testing, Susquehanna will aim to more regularly test the student population. Students will be scheduled for COVID-19 testing twice every week, according to the Spring 2021 Plan.
“After we establish routine days that work with your schedule, you will register for times to attend testing each week throughout the semester,” Lantz said in an email sent to all students on Feb. 4.
This test will be a “less invasive” nasal swab, according to Lantz.
The updates to the Spring 2021 Plan also include new guidance on mask-wearing on campus.
The Plan details that students are “encouraged” to either wear KN95 masks or to double mask, such as wearing a non-medical disposable mask under a cloth one.
The updates on masks and COVID-19 testing are the only changes made to the Plan that were announced on Feb. 4.
Lantz’s email also said Dining Services was working on a way to allow quarantined students to have a choice in their meals, but the details on that have not yet been announced.
