UNCW to begin weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing next week

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Starting Monday, February 8 UNCW will begin COVID-19 testing all students living on campus weekly, and students who live off-campus but attend class on campus will be tested biweekly.

Regular testing is not required for students who do not fall into these two categories, faculty, staff, and contractors but Interim Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Katrin Wesner-Harts says it is encouraged.

The testing is free with the majority of the funding coming from the federal level from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

A tall task to test thousands of students weekly, Wesner-Harts says it’s a campus-wide effort.

“It’s a combination of some additional medical staff, staff from our health center, some temps we’re bringing in,” Wesner-Harts said. “Also, some staff from across campus who are going to help us with registration and really helping us with traffic flow and giving students directions on how to self-swab.”

Floating the idea of bringing in student nurses to help guide other students through the self-swab process.

The process should only take about five minutes, you don’t have to wait around for results, and you will only be contacted if your results are positive to arrange isolation space.

Reflecting on a successful fall semester, Wesner-Harts hopes for the same in the Spring, saying the university wants to be partners in keeping the entire community safe.

“​When we look across campus and across our plans, we obviously have a strong focus on prevention,” Wesner-Harts said. “We believe we have a community culture that’s based on personal responsibility that we all have a role to play in helping campus stay healthy.”

For more information, visit UNCW’s Best for the Nest page.