On campus COVID testing promotes safety on campus and in travel

BYU offered student rapid testing for COVID-19 before Thanksgiving and will continue testing Dec. 7-11.

Getting tested is highly encouraged for any student traveling for the holidays.

“A total of 7,179 students were tested during the pre-Thanksgiving student screening. The overall positivity rate was 1.2%,” said Todd Hollingshead from University Communications.

The university has decided to continue with this rapid testing for students departing for Christmas break. Its website says students are “strongly encouraged to sign up for testing before leaving for the holidays.”

Students found this testing to be a helpful and convenient way to make sure they were safe to go home to visit family. Sophomore Lauren Carroll didn’t show any symptoms but “wanted to know for sure that I was safe to go home for Thanksgiving.”

Abigail Wilkinson was tested Dec. 7 before she traveled home for the holidays. She and her sister chose to be tested at BYU because they knew they would get their results in the same day.

“It seemed unnecessary and irrelevant (to go to another location) if we wouldn’t get the results for a couple of days. We decided to take advantage of the free service,” Wilkinson said.

The university wants to ensure the protection of its students. “We believe that testing is an important component to successfully preventing and managing the spread of COVID-19,” Hollingshead said. “The testing going on now will follow the same process as the testing that happened prior to Thanksgiving.”

More information about how to get tested and the qualifications are found on their website.