Since the university has reopened and students have been asked to return to campus, many have expressed concern for their health on platforms like the Student to Student Facebook page.

The university is doing their best to make the campus safe for students and one way they’ve done this is by introducing free COVID-19 testing on campus for students.

Yolanda Camper, a family health nurse practitioner at the Affinity Health Clinic, explained that the tests are free and efficient.

It normally takes 48 to 72 hours to get the results, depending on the laboratory and how many specimens they have to run at a time.

“Any students with symptoms of COVID-19, without any physical manifestations of any other illness, should be tested,” Camper said. “It seems like younger people have more minor symptoms, but it becomes more complicated for students with other co-morbidities.”

But it seems many students don’t even know there is testing available to them.

Braylon Fontenette, a P-1 student at the college of pharmacy, said he had not heard anything about the coronavirus testing on campus.

“I think students should know about the coronavirus testing on campus,” Fontenette said. “That way, if they are experiencing any symptoms, they can go to the testing facility to know whether they are positive or not.”

Valerie Fields, the interim vice president for student affairs, explained the follow-up process for a student that tests positive for the coronavirus.

She said that the student will have to quarantine themselves and check in with the counselling and self-development centers.

Their academic deans will then be contacted so accommodations can be made for these students.

Fields said that for students who stay in the dorms, there have been rooms set aside for anyone who may test positive.

Deante Stevens, a senior kinesiology major, and his friend Miles Simeon, a senior psychology major, expressed concern for the fact that the testing area is in the same place where other students come in to get checked on for other illnesses.

They felt the intermingling of students with people that could potentially have the virus puts the entire campus at risk.

Fields assured that the clinic is safe. She said that they actively disinfect the clinic area to limit the spread of the virus.

“The only way students would expose themselves to the virus is if they do not wear their masks, keep their hands clean and maintain social distancing both on and off campus,” Fields said.