In a school wide email, Dr. Sarah Van Oman, Chief Health Officer for USC Student Health, accounted that on March 1st (exactly a week from today), students that are fully vaccinated and have their booster no longer have to test weekly.
While testing remains available to all students, faculty and staff, Yohanna Bauerdorf tested the waters to see how USC students feel about this change.
Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, USC has faced many challenges in keeping the campus as safe as possible while returning to a state of normalcy. In exactly one week, students will no longer be required to test weekly for COVID, gym reservations are also no longer required, and a new guest policy will be enacted, allowing students to visit residence halls.
The university recently brought its COVID positivity rate down to 1.9% among students, and a 0.9% positivity rate among employees. After a long journey handling the pandemic, many students are eager for the policy to be lifted.
Abigail Foygelman, a junior studying Public Relations, discusses how the new policy changes the way she will go about getting tested.
ABIGAIL FOYGELMAN: I think I’m definitely going to take advantage of the lift and not get tested on a weekly basis. But if there are circumstances where I feel like I’ve been ultra exposed or know somebody who I was in contact with, then I’ll probably still get tested.
Sophomore Communications major Serena Perl agrees with Foygelman, and will only get tested on an as needed basis. She explains that the weekly testing requirement was a hassle for students both on and off campus.
SERENA PERL: I’m probably not going to get tested just because I had COVID kind of recently, and I know I have the antibodies so for me it’s just a waste of time to get tested, when I could be studying or doing other work. In that time when I would get tested, it’s kind of a hassle to go all the way across campus, get a COVID test, wait for your results, then be compliant when you just go on campus in other ways.
Although the campus positivity rate has significantly lowered, a new strain of the Omicron variant known as BA.2 has students concerned over a potential spike after spring break. The strain is 30% more transmissible than the original strain of Omicron, and scientists are concerned of a potential outbreak, despite its slow and steady spread.
FOYGELMAN: I think that obviously after spring break there might be a spike in cases is just inevitable, and we’ll have to manage that. But I think there will only be a small spike and everything will go back to normal shortly after that.
At the beginning of Spring semester, USC held fully remote classes, and as of January 18th, classes have been in-person with some hybrid options. As the semester progresses, USC will see if the new policies are a step in the right direction in the recovery process, or if they were enacted too soon.
Students are still required to complete their Trojan Check on a daily basis, and can get tested whenever they would like to. To schedule an appointment, visit your MySHR account for more details.