COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University announced a coronavirus testing plan for students, faculty and staff for the fall semester.
All students, faculty and staff are required to complete an online training course. It is a 10-minute training session that focuses on efforts made to keep people safe and healthy.
The training course covers expectations for daily health checks, personal protection such as face masks, hygiene, physical distancing, staying informed and more. The pledge acknowledges an understanding of and commitment to the behaviors described in the training.
The training and pledge must be completed before the fall semester.
The university is also implementing a testing program based on feedback from local, state and federal officials.
Broadly, Ohio State’s testing strategy will combine:
- Surveillance testing to monitor COVID-19 in random samples of asymptomatic undergraduate students
- Testing of symptomatic and exposed students, faculty and staff
- Voluntary asymptomatic testing for faculty, staff, graduate students and professional students
- Targeted testing should COVID-19 hotspots be identified
- A tool that will enable the university to share aggregate information with the public in a way that protects individuals’ medical and educational privacy
Students who test positive will be required to remain in isolation — at their homes if they have not yet moved into campus housing or, if they have, in on-campus isolation housing. Positive test results will be shared with the appropriate health authority and the university’s contact tracing team.
