Anne Ehrlich, Vice President for College Life, informs the campus community that all future COVID tests will be rapid tests.
Dear Campus Community,
We write today with good news. Our COVID testing partner, Mobile Health, has been able to secure rapid tests for our weekly testing protocol. Beginning Monday, January 24, all tests conducted on campus will be rapid tests. This means you will receive your results within 24 hours of your test. There will be no other change to the protocol or to your testing experience. While early data suggests that antigen tests detect the Omicron variant but may have slightly reduced sensitivity in asymptomatic inp iduals, the significant improvement in result delivery makes rapid tests more useful in our context.
As a reminder, all students must test for the next three weeks, regardless of vaccination status. Unvaccinated faculty and staff are also required to test weekly, and the testing center continues to welcome any faculty and staff who wish to test.
The testing center is located at Plank Gym. Hours of operation are:
Mondays*
- 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Faculty and Staff Only
- 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Faculty, Staff, and Students
Tuesdays*
- 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Faculty and Staff Only
- 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Faculty, Staff, and Students
Wednesdays*
- 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. | Faculty and Staff Only
- 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. | Faculty, Staff, and Students
Thursdays*
- 1 p.m. – 6 a.m. | Faculty and Staff Only
*Closed M, T, W Noon – 12:45 p.m.
Labs across the country are experiencing delays in test processing, so results from this week’s arrival tests are just beginning to come in. As a reminder, students should not attend class until they have received a negative test result. Students who have not received their arrival test result by Monday should still go to the Mobile Health testing site on Monday. Again, all students—regardless of vaccination status—will test for the first four weeks of the semester.
We will update the COVID dashboard each Monday.
In addition to testing, universal indoor masking remains one of the most important mitigation strategies we can employ. Earlier this month, the CDC updated its guidance to recommend N95, KN95, and KN94 masks as offering the best protection against COVID-19. We highly encourage every member of our campus community to wear the most effective mask possible. This article provides information about where you can buy them.
If you have any questions, please visit our COVID-19 website or contact covidupdates@gettysburg.edu.
Sincerely,
Anne Ehrlich
Vice President for College Life