A worker at the UW-Green Bay rapid COVID-19 testing site waits for a drive-up patient to complete a self-administered test. (WTAQ/Casey Nelson)
MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Students at University of Wisconsin campuses would have to be tested for coronavirus before they leave and twice before they return if they’re going off-campus for Thanksgiving break.
That’s according to a memo from system president Tommy Thompson to chancellors, obtained by FOX 11.
The memo says that campuses should take advantage of the rapid tests provided by the federal government and distributed to the system’s four-year campuses. According to the memo, chancellors should require that:
1. Any student leaving our campus community for the Thanksgiving holiday with the intent of returning to campus after the Thanksgiving holiday be COVID tested once before they leave campus and tested an additional two times before they return into any classroom or congregated setting. Should they test positive, the protocols related to quarantining and isolation on each campus will still be required to be followed.
2. If these standards cannot be met, students should not be allowed to return into any classroom or congregated setting following the Thanksgiving break.
Some UW-Green Bay students think this is a good thing.
“It makes sense. I’d understand it too especially with other colleges too. It just makes sense to be tested more to make sure that you’re not spreading it to so many people,” UWGB freshman Jessica Endries said.
“I think that’s safe. It’s a valid thing to do. It’s so up in the air. You want to keep everyone that you’re seeing at home safe but then also coming back after seeing new people, better safe than sorry than to have a whole new wave of cases at school,” UWGB senior Angela White said.
Endries and White have not heard about Thanksgiving protocols from the UWGB.
UW-Oshkosh was already planning on following UW system protocols, even before the memo was sent out.
The university will utilize antigen testing to administer two tests over a three day period when students come back.
“We think the students can do this and our students have been very good in terms of maintaining a low positivity rate. I think they’ve been COVID trained and obviously we don’t have a low positivity rate without their cooperation. So I really do believe that while we will have some kind of a surge, its not going to be big and it’s going to be something we can handle,” UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said.
UW-Milwaukee sent a letter to students Thursday regarding their Thanksgiving protocols.
The letter asks students to get tested before going home, find a safe place to isolate if you test positive, limit close contact with others at home, wash your hands, and get tested again when you return to campus.
UW-Stevens Point says they will shift to all virtual classes after Thanksgiving.
They continue to work with the UW System on protocols around the holiday.
Bellin Emergency Doctor Brad Burmeister says students should follow their schools guidelines to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“A lot of college campuses in Wisconsin have the ability to do a free screening for COVID 19 so it’s not unreasonable to get a screening test done before traveling home,” Dr. Burmeister said.
Some campuses are completing the first semester remotely after Thanksgiving break, with in-person classes resuming for the second semester.
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