Weekly Surveillance Testing

This test, developed by SUNY Upstate Medical University and approved by the New York State Department of Health for use by all SUNY institutions, evaluates saliva samples collected from individuals that have been pooled (combined) with others. This pooled sampling enables researchers to test greater swaths of the community more rapidly while preserving the scientific integrity of the data.

SUNY’s updated policy on surveillance testing requires UB to administer weekly testing of all students, faculty and staff who are on campus and have not been fully vaccinated or fail to verify that they have completed their vaccination series.

SUNY’s updated policy on surveillance testing requires UB to administer weekly testing of all students, faculty and staff who are on campus and have not been fully vaccinated or fail to verify that they have completed their vaccination series.

Fully Vaccinated
Students and employees who are regularly on campus will no longer need to participate in mandatory weekly testing upon verifying that they have been fully vaccinated. Human Resources has provided guidance to employees on how to provide proof of vaccination. Students can submit vaccination documentation through the Student Health Services portal.  

Individuals Not Fully Vaccinated
Required weekly testing will continue for those who are on campus and have not been fully vaccinated or fail to verify that they have completed their vaccination series.

• Resident students.
• Students who are taking one or more classes with an in-person component.
• Students who use on-campus services such as dining, libraries or fitness facilities.
• Student employees who work on campus.

FOR FACULTY AND STAFF:

All employees who are coming to campus on a regular basis will be expected to be tested every week, and are selected according to the following criteria:

• Instructors teaching a scheduled, on-campus class with room, day(s) and time(s). Roswell Park and other off-campus classes excluded.
• Employees identified by FSA as working on campus.
• Employees with a paid, primary appointment in the following units/departments:
  • UPD.
  • Campus Living (VPSL Campus Living, Campus Living Director's Office, Campus Living Facilities, Campus Living Custodial, Campus Living Maintenance, Campus Living Housing Services, Campus Living Central Services, Campus Living Res Life).
    
  • Facilities (Campus Operations, Design & Construction, Environment, Health and Safety).

Employees with a positive case in the past 90 days have been removed from the list for surveillance testing.

If your schedule has changed and you are working remotely, you are not expected to come in for testing. 

• Be sure you have completed “Step 2: Register Your Test With SUNY.”
• One hour prior to your test:
  • Refrain from eating or drinking anything, including chewing gum, mints or lozenges.
  • Do not brush your teeth or use mouthwash.
• Thirty minutes prior to your test:
  • Abstain from smoking, vaping or using smokeless tobacco products.
• Students, please submit a surveillance testing excuse by email

• Your UB Card.
• Your personal electronic device (e.g., smartphone, tablet or laptop).

• Upon arrival, you will bring up the SUNY COVID test website where you will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure.
• Once screened, you will check in at a registration table.
  
• After you have been registered, staff will provide you with your test kit, which will include a saliva collection tube and a replacement cap.
• Tests are self-administered, relying on a simple saliva collection vial to gather the sample to be tested. Sample collection should take no longer than 1–3 minutes. These are not nasopharyngeal tests, in which swabs are inserted through the nasal cavity.

After you have completed the test, your sample will be combined with 11 other samples. That pool will be tested for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

There will be testing sites located on UB’s North and South campuses. More information about surveillance testing is available here.

Regular COVID-19 testing is an effective way to keep our campus safe, and students disregarding this mandate will face consequences.

Students must be tested at one of the UB weekly surveillance testing locations. Students who have tested positive are excused from testing for three months. 

Faculty and staff, please see the COVID-19 Employee Guide.

Use the Coronavirus Self-Checker to assess your symptoms.  If you experience any of these symptoms or feel unwell, quarantine as a precaution and contact your health care provider.

If students need to miss class due to illness, isolation or quarantine, they must notify their instructor by email as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours after missing class. Residential students may request assistance from Campus Living to provide faculty notifications.

• Students: Please see  CDC Self-Care for Coronavirus
• Employees: Please see If you’re feeling sick.

UB continues to utilize the pooled collection/testing protocol for the weekly surveillance testing program. Your pool results will typically take 24-48 hours to process. If your pool tests positive, the constituent samples will be tested individually, and it may take an additional 24 hours to receive your individual results. All result times may be subject to weather delays. The lab will send an automated message alerting you when your results are available. If you are identified as a member of a positive pool, you will also receive communication from the university.

To view surveillance testing results, UB students and employees may log into https://app.clarifi-covid-19.com/ (the same site used to register for the on-campus testing each week) and click from the main screen to view their test results:

• “Pending” indicates that results are not yet available;
• “Presumed Negative” means that all 12 individuals in the pool were negative;
• “Pooled Positive” indicates that a specific level of virus was detected in the pool and subsequently, each of the 12 samples included in the pool will now be individually tested to determine the positive individual(s) in the pool;
• “Reflex Negative” means your individually-run test was negative;
• “Reflex Positive” means you have tested positive for COVID-19 and must isolate per Erie County Department of Health requirements.

While some delayed results are due to factors beyond anyone’s control, many of them are due to registration errors. To make sure you get your weekly surveillance test results promptly, do the following.

Log in and update your registration profile at https://app.clarifi-covid-19.com/ and verify:

• Did you chose SUNY BUFFALO as the organization
• How you registered your name

Your registration profile MUST match your specimen label in order for testing to be complete. On the specimen label, be sure to:

1. write your name exactly as it appears in your registration profile; and 
2. write your date of birth as mm/dd/yyyy.

While some delayed surveillance test results are due to factors beyond anyone’s control, many of them are due to registration errors. An email was sent to all surveillance testing participants asking them to update their registration profile to make sure they receive their weekly surveillance test results promptly. Please do the following.

Log in and update your registration profile at https://app.clarifi-covid-19.com/ and verify:

• Did you chose SUNY BUFFALO as the organization
• How you registered your name

Your registration profile MUST match your specimen label in order for testing to be complete. On the specimen label, be sure to:

1. write your name exactly as it appears in your registration profile; and 
2. write your date of birth as mm/dd/yyyy.

Individuals in a pool that tests negative are presumed to be coronavirus-free; however, a negative test result only demonstrates that you and the others in your pool had undetectable levels of virus at the time that samples were taken.

Research shows that the virus may take 5-7 days after initial exposure to reach detectable levels. You may have been tested inside this window, which means you (or anyone else in your pool) could have been infected but with undetectable levels of virus, or you may have been exposed to the virus after getting tested but before getting the results.

Even if your results come back negative, you must continue to follow UB’s Health and Safety Guidelines. Wear a face covering, practice physical distancing, wash hands frequently and stay home if you feel sick.

Participants in the pooled surveillance testing are not required to quarantine after specimen collection. However, if your pool’s test results are positive, your original sample will then be tested separately. This can be done using a portion of your saliva from the original sample. Results from the testing of the individual samples from a positive pool may take one to two days to be processed. During that time, you will be instructed to quarantine. If you are confirmed to be positive by the testing of your individual sample, you will be required to isolate. Individuals who test negative in the individual test will be released from quarantine.

Students living on campus who are directed to isolate will be housed in designated housing. See Quarantine Information for Students.

If your individual sample tests positive, you will be required to isolate.

Any student who receives a positive COVID-19 test result should isolate and report it via UB’s confidential reporting form.

Any employee who receives a positive COVID-19 test result should report it to their supervisor and to UB’s Office of Human Resources - HR will provide guidance.

As part of the amended SUNY mandate, those who have had a positive PCR test should not participate in surveillance testing for 90 days from the date of their positive test. After that 90-day period, they will again be required to participate in regular surveillance testing.

Students who have tested positive are excused from testing for three months. To be excused due to a previous positive, the student must provide documentation of their positive case using this confidential online reporting form.

Faculty and staff, please see the the employee guide.

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 must immediately isolate. UB is able to house and support residential students who require on-campus isolation.

Anyone can complete their isolation at home provided that they:

• Inform those whom they will be living with of their COVID-19 status.
• Return home using private transportation (i.e., no planes, trains, buses or ride-hailing/ride-sharing services).
• Follow their local health department guidelines related to isolation and quarantine.

Additionally, anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home should use a separate bedroom and bathroom, if possible, to reduce the risk of exposing any other individuals in the home.

SUNY’s current policy on surveillance testing requires UB to administer weekly testing of all students, faculty and staff who are on campus and have not been fully vaccinated or fail to verify that they have completed their vaccination series.

No, the tests that you participate in are already included in the campus testing process.

Yes, students who tested off campus prior to their return to campus for the summer semester as well as those who participate in periodic off-campus testing must participate in weekly surveillance testing.