UB to begin pre-Thanksgiving testing program on Monday

Alumni Arena is ready for a new role: mass COVID-19 testing site.

The facility, which has hosted everything from basketball championships to presidential speeches and legendary concerts, is an ideal venue to test the thousands of on-campus students prior to Thanksgiving break, says Joseph Raab, director of environment, health and safety.

“Obviously the building can handle large crowds, but the way Alumni Arena is designed makes it very flexible in terms of how you can use the space inside,” he says. “It works very well as a place to test a lot of people in a safe, efficient and orderly manner.”

SUNY announced on Oct. 27 that all of its 64 schools must test on-campus students within 10 days of their leaving for Thanksgiving break. The goal is to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus as students return to their hometowns, including communities in Western New York.

In addition to the arena, UB will run pre-Thanksgiving testing sites at Harriman Hall on the South Campus, and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Downtown Campus.

Developed by a multidisciplinary team of UB staff and faculty, the university’s pre-Thanksgiving testing program adheres to best practice safety protocols

It will begin Monday and run through Nov. 18. The early start is important, Raab says, because while the last day of in-person classes for most students is Nov. 24, many students will finish earlier — and, as previously announced, most students will stay home after Thanksgiving, completing the fall semester remotely.

Mass testing is separate from UB’s surveillance testing program, Raab adds, noting that students selected for surveillance testing must still complete the pre-Thanksgiving break testing.

Those required to participate in mass testing include undergraduate, graduate and professional students who:

• Reside on campus.
• Have taken at least one class on the North, South or Downtown campuses.
• Use on-campus services such as dining halls, labs, libraries or fitness facilities.
• Work on any of UB’s campuses.
  

Health science students in clinical rotations, as well students enrolled in labs, studios and other learning environments that require them to be on campus or out in the public, are required to participate.

Per SUNY’s guidance, the university will not test students who do not come to campus, nor will it test students who provide evidence of a previous positive COVID-19 test. If, as part of your clinical obligations, you will be tested at your clinical site within 10 days prior to the Thanksgiving break, you may submit your test result to the university as proof that you fulfilled the requirement.

UB has been utilizing Harriman Hall and the Jacobs School building for surveillance testing of students and employees. Starting Monday, it will shift those operations to pre-Thanksgiving mass testing of students.

On the North Campus, UB will move its testing site from the Student Union to Alumni Arena, which offers more space that will allow the university to significantly increase its testing capacity.

For each of the three sites, students are required to make an appointment and register with SUNY Upstate Medical University, which will analyze the samples. The following link provides info on this process: https://buffalo.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortalX/7C9A0EF4/8/10/Home-Home?UrlToken=87718C04.

Students also have the option of getting tested off campus. To schedule an appointment, they should call the New York testing hotline at 1-888-364-3065. A searchable map of local testing locations is available on this Erie County website.

Students who opt for off-campus testing must have the test conducted no earlier than Nov. 9. Also, they must upload the test result document to UB's pre-Thanksgiving testing program website no later than Nov. 24.

Like UB’s surveillance testing, the mass testing program will evaluate saliva samples collected from students that have been pooled, or combined, with others.

The test, developed by SUNY Upstate Medical University and approved by the New York State Department of Health, enables medical professionals to test greater swaths of the community more rapidly while preserving the scientific integrity of the data.

If a pool tests positive, individuals from the pool will have their samples tested separately, with results processed within two to four days.

Per the SUNY mandate, UB will make plans to isolate students who live in a residence hall and test positive for COVID-19. UB will help quarantine students who have been exposed to the virus within 14 days before closing for the fall semester.

Students who test positive or have been exposed to the virus may isolate at home, but must notify those that they live with of their COVID-19 status, follow their local health department quarantine guidelines and only travel using private transportation. For example, travelling by plane, train, bus or car-sharing services is not allowed.

Students who do not comply with SUNY testing policies are in violation of SUNY safety protocols and may face academic and housing suspension, or dismissal.