MICHIGAN, USA — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released new guidance Tuesday encouraging colleges and universities to require COVID-19 testing of all students who live both on campus and near campus.
According to the MDHHS, studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that while social distancing in college classrooms is important, transmission of the virus likely occurs primarily outside the classroom.
“We know there have been outbreaks of COVID-19 on college campuses across the country, and it has an impact on disease spread beyond the campus community,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health, “Colleges have stepped up throughout this pandemic to slow disease spread through testing and quarantine protocols. With the arrival of the new variant in Michigan and risk of virus spread both on- and off-campus, it is best practice to implement robust testing protocols in these settings.”
Michigan’s first case of the new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 was recently discovered. Due to this, the MDHHS says COVID-19 health and safety protocols must also increase.
The MDHHS released the following strategies:
- Require weekly testing of all undergraduate students who reside on or near the campus and who participate in social activities associated with the campus community.
- If resources are more constrained, require testing for all students in the campus community on a regular but random basis.
- Target limited mandatory testing resources based on information about community spread, including information from wastewater testing, provided that the information and the potential for testing reach all students living on or near the campus.
Although a strict definition of living “near campus” has not been provided, the MDHHS says the testing should include those who live in surrounding areas “with a significant concentration of students who socialize on or near campus.”
“We are grateful for all that colleges are doing so that there are fewer campus outbreaks this spring," said MDHHS Director Robert Gordon. “Based on what we have seen, required testing for students around universities is critical to protecting lives and minimizing interruptions to learning.”
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