Required COVID-19 testing Feb. 1-7 and Spring Semester

Dear Elon Community Members,

Thank you for your participation in arrival and weekly student COVID-19 testing. Our positivity rate for the 11,000+ tests completed on campus thus far this month now stands at 0.76%.

As we approach the end of Winter Term and beginning of Spring Semester, including the arrival of additional students, faculty, and staff, we want to emphasize the importance of refraining from travel away from campus during the upcoming short break. This year’s calendar was designed to shorten the break between terms. Campus services will remain in operation and programs will occur during this brief break.

Sign up for testing now:

1. Required testing for all students, staff, and faculty: Feb. 1-7

Feb. 1-7: All undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty are required to test Feb. 1-7 on campus. Sign up by this Friday, January 29. As we welcome new students, faculty, and staff to campus and begin a new month, we will again test the entire community. All testing for the rest of the semester will be using the Abbott Labs BinaxNOW antigen test. Results post within three hours to your My Readiness page.

 >>>Click here to sign up for required Feb. 1-7 testing.

• Do NOT sign up if you have tested positive within the past 90 days.
• Do NOT sign up if you are in one of these groups:
  • Student-athletes will receive separate instructions from coaches and trainers for their weekly testing
  • Coaches and athletics staff will train with athletics physicians and trainers
  • Law School students, faculty and staff will receive separate instructions about testing at the Greensboro campus Feb. 3-4
  • School of Health Sciences students, faculty and staff will receive separate instructions about signing up for Francis Center testing Feb. 4-5
  • I-Media, MBA, and MSBA students will receive separate instructions about signing up for Francis Center testing Feb. 4-5
  • Physical Plant staff will receive separate instructions from supervisors
  • Auxiliary Services staff will receive separate instructions from supervisors

2. Required weekly undergraduate testing: Feb. 8-May 21

Feb. 8-May 21: Required student Spring Semester weekly testing. Sign up by this Friday, January 29. All undergraduates (first-year, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) must choose a weekly time slot (same day and time each week) for spring semester required testing. More information will be released about monthly graduate student, staff, and faculty testing after undergraduates make appointments.

Do NOT sign up if you are a student-athlete or student teacher. Wait for instructions.

>>>Undergraduates (first-years, sophomores, juniors, seniors) click here to pick your weekly time slot for Spring Semester testing Feb. 8-May 21.

• The site is using Feb. 8-12 as an example for the entire Spring Semester.
• The day of the week and time you choose will be the day and time you go to Alumni Gym for testing every week during Spring Semester.
• If you choose Monday, Feb. 8 at 9:30 a.m., then you will go to testing in Alumni Gym every Monday at 9:30 a.m.
• Once all students sign up, we will build in the weekly recurrence for the entire semester.
• We will share information soon about what to do if your test date aligns with a break day or holiday.

Prior positive students should sign up for a Spring testing appointment

If you have received a positive test result in the past 90 days, you are not required to be tested within that 90-day window. However, you should still choose a required spring test appointment day and time. That way, when your 90-day waiting period concludes, you will have an appointment that works with your schedule. If you have not submitted your test results, do so by completing the COVID-19 Testing Exception form and uploading your positive test result.

Don’t come to testing if experiencing symptoms or in quarantine

If you are experiencing symptoms or are in quarantine, do not come to the test site and potentially infect others. The same rapid tests are being offered to symptomatic students at Student Health Services and soon for staff and faculty at Faculty-Staff Wellness.

Current cases on campus

As we shifted to required weekly student testing last week, we began identifying cases transmitted within the campus community. As of yesterday, we have 43 active cases and 155 students in isolation or quarantine. Coronavirus is an opportunistic disease, spreading as soon as we lower our guard. Now is not the time to lessen our precautions or put ourselves or others in harm’s way.

Wearing masks, inside and outside, on and off-campus

Masks are not optional for anyone – students, faculty, and staff are required to wear them at all times inside and outside, unless they are in their residences or closed offices.

Negative test results don’t protect us for the future

Weekly testing helps identify hidden cases and reduce the exponential virus spread. But testing is only a snapshot in time. Appreciate a negative test result, but don’t imagine it will keep you negative in the future.

Fighting the virus together

The start of our Winter and Spring studies is time to renew our Healthy Elon Commitment and make our COVID-19 precautions part of our daily routines. Our Fall Semester experiences illustrated how fast the virus can spread when we are careless, even briefly.  We have made it this far together. We understand that our health is in each other’s hands and we know how to do this . . . together. We all must keep our guard up.

Thank you for your continued commitment to the health of our community,

The Ready & Resilient Committee

• Jeff Stein, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Professor of English (Chair)
• Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Associate Professor of Education