Health

Testing concerns as college students prep to return to campuses

WAYLAND, Mass. — Three large blue duffel bags, several clear plastic totes and a lamp rest by a wall in Julie Robinson’s Wayland home. Soon, every one of the items will be moved into her daughter Hailey’s dorm room at UMass Amherst.

“Yesterday morning I had a total meltdown,” said Robinson.

She’s anxious not only about seeing her daughter leave home for college, but doing so in a pandemic, as a person with asthma making her at higher-risk for COVID-19.

Hailey will also need a negative COVID test within a few days of stepping foot on campus and be tested again once she arrives.

“I think there’s going to be a huge crunch and people aren’t going to be able to access the tests,” said Robinson.

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker said in a news conference the capacity to test 45,000 people per day exists in Massachusetts.

“We could be doing 45,000 tests a day right now, if we had 45,000 people worth of tests to do,” said Baker.

The university said it will conduct weekly surveillance testing of all students in residence halls and off campus who have face-to-face classes or a campus meal plan, according to a spokesman.

In the Fall Reopening frequently asked questions page, UMass said it will monitor off-campus students, and those in residence halls and conduct additional adaptive testing to specific populations as recommended by its epidemiology advisory group.

In Springfield, Jasmine Fatemi is mapping out where she will get a test which she’ll need before getting her room key at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut.

“Our housing assignments are getting changed up, we don’t know exactly where we will be living, how the process is really going to go about.”

The University of Hartford shared the following statement with Boston 25 News:

The University of Hartford is strictly following Connecticut state regulations as we prepare to safely reopen this fall. As we have shared with students via email and our website, students must document a negative test that was taken within 14 days prior to moving in. There is a chance that some room assignments will have to change due to decreased capacity caused by social distancing and other health requirements, but our residential life team is making every effort to minimize the impact on students. If a student does test positive for COVID-19, ideally they will be able to go home to rest and heal. If that is not possible, we do have residential spaces on campus for ill students to isolate and a plan in place to provide food, medical assistance, and other necessities

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