DU’s COVID-19 response team is well on its way to tripling its testing capability on campus with the addition of saliva and antigen testing during this winter quarter.
The nasal swab testing continues to be a requirement for students while antigen testing is solely reserved for those associated with D1 athletics. Saliva testing has been open to all students, allowing for a more efficient testing process than the uncomfortable nasal swabs.
Saliva testing is available in four locations on campus; Centennial Halls, Nagel Hall, Dimond Family Residential Village and the care pod, located north of the Ritchie Center.
Andrew Johnson, a junior biology major from the Chicago area, volunteers at one of the four saliva testing locations on campus.
“We check people in, [and] they provide a minimum amount of saliva, which is two milliliters,” Johnson stated. “We do a PCR test on campus, which will get the result back in about 10 hours.”
While he does not conduct the tests himself, his work as a volunteer is vital to the university.
“My job is to make sure that they have not eaten, drank, smoked, vaped [or] anything,” Johnson explained. “Every hour, on the hour, we run the samples from our sites to the Mudd building, where it will be tested.”
To Johnson, the inclusion of the saliva test has allowed the school to test significantly more people than in the past. Johnson believes he is more comfortable on campus knowing that people are getting tested up to three times a week.
Students living on campus are now tested twice a week, and those living off campus but attending classes in person are required to get tested weekly.
Over 34,000 tests have been performed on campus between July 31 and Dec. 21, and 19,841 tests were administered between Dec. 21 and Feb. 3. It is clear that the university’s testing numbers have greatly increased.
With a seven-day average positivity rate of .93% on campus and a 3.2% seven-day average positivity rate in Denver county as of Feb. 3, it certainly seems as if the testing is making a difference.
Due to the low positivity rate, DU has dropped the alert level to blue. This increases building capacities to 50-60% and gatherings to a maximum of 50 people. Visitors are now allowed on campus if they follow the university’s visitor protocol. Assuming students continue to get tested on a common basis, the university may be able to continue with these limited restrictions and eventually drop to alert level green.
