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Syracuse University will require students who reside on and off campus and access university facilities to participate in COVID-19 testing every seven days during the spring semester, SU officials announced Tuesday. 

The campus-wide testing plan is a shift from the random surveillance testing model SU used in the fall semester. The new plan will allow for routine testing of students, faculty and staff who regularly access campus, said Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, and Rob Hradsky, vice president for the student experience, in an SU News release.

SU also plans to increase surveillance tests to between 250,000 and 300,000 during the spring semester, more than double the 100,000 samples collected in the fall. The university plans to use its new on-campus testing laboratory to process 4,000 tests a day. Results will be ready within 24 and 36 hours.

Students will now directly deposit saliva into a test tube rather than use a mouth swab to conduct the test, as they did in the fall. The testing method is more accurate and reduces return times, Haynie and Hradsky said.

SU will expand the Carrier Dome testing center and will increase its contact tracing team from 30 to 50 workers. The university will also hire full-time employees to help conduct contact tracing, the officials said.

The university has also updated its Stay Safe Pledge, a set of coronavirus-related guidelines for members of the campus community. The pledge prohibits nonessential travel outside of central New York, as well as hosting visitors from out of the region. Students will be required to wear masks off-campus when around people they don’t live with. The pledge also asks that students participate quickly and honestly in contact tracing efforts. 

SU plans to begin in-person classes on Jan. 25. Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a campus-wide email that he will provide updates about changes to health procedures or the spring schedule during the first week of January.

Published on December 22, 2020 at 6:37 pm

Contact Kailey: kmnorusi@syr.edu