SUNY-ESF students must test negative for COVID-19 before leaving for break

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SUNY-ESF students attending in-person classes must test negative for the coronavirus within 10 days of leaving for Thanksgiving break, SUNY officials announced Tuesday. 

The testing requirements are intended to prevent students from bringing the virus back to their hometowns, according to a SUNY press release. All SUNY colleges, including SUNY-ESF, must submit a plan to fulfill that requirement by Nov. 5. SUNY also “strongly recommends” that faculty and staff receive testing, though it’s not mandatory. 

SUNY-ESF is currently developing its response to the guidelines, said Stephanie Specchio, associate vice president of communications and marketing, in an email to the SUNY-ESF campus. 

“ESF students have been role models this semester in adhering to health and safety guidelines, so we don’t expect that much motivation (to get tested) will be needed,” Specchio said.

The college has conducted 4,536 tests on campus and only identified two cases to date, neither of which are active, according to SUNY-ESF’s COVID-19 dashboard. Five students are currently in quarantine for possible exposure to the virus. 

Residents of Centennial Hall, SUNY-ESF’s only dorm, received testing upon arrival to campus. While SUNY-ESF originally only encouraged testing for off-campus students, the college revised its policy Aug. 25 to require testing for all students.

SUNY-ESF updated its testing policy again on Oct. 10 to require a randomly-selected sample of students to receive mandatory testing every week.

Students at the college were also able to use Syracuse University’s COVID-19 testing facilities when they opened. SU will test all students again before they depart campus but will not require a negative test for them to leave.