Students will be tested before moving into dorms
BOULDER» Students living in the University of Colorado’s dorms this fall will be required to take a COVID-19 test within five days before moving in, or take one of a limited number of tests available on campus upon arrival, the school said Friday.
In an update to the campus community, CU officials said they expect to decide soon whether all students — including those living off campus — will be required to be tested for the new coronavirus.
“We are continuing to monitor public health requirements from the state that may include testing of students living off campus and state guidance on students arriving from certain geographical areas who may need to be quarantined,” CU officials wrote.
First-year students will move into CU’s residence halls the week of Aug. 17 on a scheduled basis. Those students will be required to have taken a COVID-19 RTPCR test.
Officials with the Boulder County Public Health Department have said they would like to see all students coming from outside of Colorado, including those living off-campus, test negative within five days before their arrival.
“We are concerned about the risk of a surge of new cases with any large influx of people to the community because it increases the opportunity for the virus to spread from other locations to ours,” Boulder County Public Health spokeswoman Chana Goussetis said.
CU is partnering with the county health department on testing, investigation and contact tracing for faculty members, staff members and students when school is in session.
Students who receive public nuisance violations from the city for large gatherings during the pandemic may be put through the campus’ student disciplinary process. Boulder added violations of public health orders to its list of nuisances it could enforce against, and officials plan to be in touch with landlords of student residences concerning complaints of irresponsible behavior at such properties.
CU officials also are working on monitoring up to 9,000 students, staff members and faculty members at a higher risk for infection using pooled testing, described as “a populationbased strategy to detect the presence of infection within small groups.”
“To identify potential outbreaks on campus early, we’re preparing to implement daily wastewater monitoring at 20 locations across campus with a focus on residence halls and select high-use buildings,” CU officials said.