IU staff prepare to test students returning to campus at Memorial Stadium.
(Ethan Burks, WFIU/WTIU News)
If all goes according to plan, every Indiana University student will have been tested for COVID-19 before returning to campus this fall.
And IU officials said campus housing residents who test positive throughout the year will be required to isolate in a designated residence hall or leave campus.
University spokesperson Chuck Carney said the university has already tested more than 1,300 students moving into on-campus housing. It is part of IU’s extended move-in procedure this fall. The school is not releasing daily COVID testing results, but according to Carney, the current number of cases among students is “low.”
Carney said though there are no testing requirements for guests and parents, everyone inside university buildings must wear a mask.
“Students and parents, they’ve been masked up, and I know I’ve been to the residence halls on a couple of different days, and the ones that I’ve seen have been very much adhering to that," he said.
And the university has prepared for the spread of the virus once students return to dorms. That preparation comes in the form of Ashton Residence Center, a multi-building 560-room residence hall that will be populated only with students who test positive for COVID-19.
Once in isolation at Ashton, Carney said, medical and residence hall staff will bring food and check in on students until they test negative – anywhere from 10 to 14 days.
In anticipation of this, IU is providing on-campus students with “go bags,” branded bags to fill with a change of clothes, medication and essentials in case a student needs to make the hasty transition from their dorm to an isolation room.
“We’re asking students to be prepared, think ahead, and also have a plan as to what they want to do if they arrive to campus and they do test positive," Carney said.
Students living off campus will be required to get tested as well. Carney said students should have received an email already this week with instructions on how to get a test.
For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana pagehere.
