COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Program Set to Begin
Marist College opened its doors to students and faculty on Aug. 24 to resume in-person instruction for the first time since March. In addition to the health and safety protocols already put in place this semester, which include mask wearing and social distancing, the college will also begin a COVID-19 surveillance testing program.
“The third element of our testing plan is Marist College’s Surveillance Testing Program,” Deborah DiCaprio, vice president of Student Affairs, said. “Surveillance testing will be done in collaboration with SUNY Upstate Medical Center and will begin next week, starting Monday, August 31st and continue throughout the semester.”
The samples used for testing will not be the nasal PCR COVID-19 test students had before returning to campus. The tests will be collected via saliva swabbing and then run for results at SUNY Upstate Medical Center. Recent research by University of Chicago scientists found that saliva based tests are just as accurate as nasal PCR tests and might even be more effective in catching asymptotic cases. With many in the Marist community calling on the administration to enhance testing protocols this week, they released the final testing initiative early.
“Specific details about the program will be released on Monday, but we wanted to let you know in advance of that release that Marist has secured the resources and designed another program that will enhance the public health programming and testing protocols we have already in place,” DiCaprio said.
The first element of the college's reopening plan began in July and early August when students residing on campus were required to get tested prior to coming to campus. The second element of the Marist reopening plan involves expedited testing through their partnership with Westchester Medical Center. The expedited testing program was recently put into action to test students in Champagnat Hall who had close contact with a positive case. The goal of the surveillance testing program is to identify positive cases in asymptomatic individuals who can transmit the virus to others on campus.
“This program will allow us to monitor the success of our policies in place to prevent COVID-19 spread, and also allow us to react quickly to respond as needed,” DiCaprio said. “We all recognize the necessity of making adjustments as we monitor COVID-19 infection on our campus and in our local community.”
When the regular testing program begins, students, faculty and staff will be notified that they have been identified for surveillance testing. After being selected for testing, people will be given instructions and told where to report for testing.
“Testing will typically occur Monday through Saturday at various locations around campus,'' DiCaprio said. “The plan has been reviewed by our Fall Reopening Medical Committee, chaired by Dean of Science, Dr. Alicia Slater, whose physician members are Dr. Stephen Katz, Dr. Erin McLaughlin, and Dr. Melissa Schiskie. The statistical sampling methods are being developed by Dr. Alan Labouseur of the School of Computer Science and Mathematics with guidance from Dr. Lee Miringoff and Dr. Barbara Carvalho of the Marist Institute of Public Opinion. The tests will be administered by Marist School of Science faculty under the direction of Dean Slater.”
Source: Sarah Lynch