According to a statement made by the Rowan Announcer on Feb 20., changes have been made regarding the COVID-19 testing policies on campus. 

The Hollybush Mansion on Summit Lane will no longer host COVID-19 testing. 

“So we established Hollybush at the beginning of the semester because there was almost zero access to testing in the community over winter break,” Scott Woodside, the director of the Wellness Center, said. “So we intentionally set that up when we started, from Jan. 18, the start of the semester to Feb 18, a four-week period which based on the past multiple semesters, that’s like the biggest need and the biggest acclimation period.”

Woodside is calling the ending of testing in Hollybush a “milestone,” and that it’s just one of the many steps that will be taken to roll back the protocols that have been put in place. 

However, through May 5, Wednesdays and Thursdays will still be the day for unvaccinated students and employees to receive asymptomatic testing. 

“Testing will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Wednesday and Thursday in the Owl’s Nest in the Chamberlain Student Center,” read the announcement. 

The policies for contact tracing are changing as well. Instead of an official reaching out to students and staff to contact trace, the responsibility will be placed upon the individual who has tested positive to reach out. The Wellness Center will then help the COVID-19-positive person contact the necessary people. 

“So what we’re looking at is, going back to a period of where we all need to be accountable for our health and if I wake up and I’m sick one day I hope I tell someone whom I had a face-to-face meeting with, ‘Hey, I was sick yesterday, and now I have strep throat.’ It’s the same kind of idea,” Woodside said. 

The daily screening that is used when logging into Rowan’s websites will still be kept in place, and according to Woodside, that screening may go away when the university decides to ease up on the mask requirements, but it hasn’t officially been decided. 

Students and staff who test positive will still need to report the result to the university through their COVID-19 On-Line Contact Training. 

“I think what we’re in right now is this period of transition where we’re gonna be struggling with the people who feel we need to hold onto some things and people that are saying ‘Why didn’t you make these changes two months ago?’” Woodside said. “So we’re managing those, but at the end of the day we’re making decisions that we feel is right.”

The Rowan Announcer also provided information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and where to get one. 

“A healthy Rowan is a thriving Rowan. Please continue to take every precaution to keep yourselves and our community healthy and safe this spring,” read the announcement. 

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