COVID-19 testing begins in the TSC ballroom

The Taggart Student Center ballroom hosted a flurry of gowned workers, plexiglass dividers and masked students on Wednesday.

The spacious room was transformed into a COVID-19 testing center after Gov. Gary Herbert announced plans to test university students weekly. The mandate was announced Sunday as case counts have risen across the state in recent weeks.

This week, the center focused on on-campus residents. While the center allowed 500 appointments on Wednesday as a trial run, President Noelle Cockett said they will test about 2,000 students a day beginning on Thursday. Logan students can be tested this or next week by scheduling an appointment at aggiehealth.usu.edu.

“I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate our students doing this,” Cockett said. “The whole point is to keep others safe.”

Cockett expects the case count to increase at Utah State University, not only because of increased testing, but because of increased socialization among students over the past few weeks, with Halloween a week and a half ago. Cockett said she feels the university as a whole is doing well, though.

“There have been no incidents of infection through any of our classrooms,” Cockett said.

While Herbert requested university students be tested on a weekly basis, Cockett said they are concerned about the number of tests available. In addition to the current testing, which comes just before Thanksgiving break, she said they will test students when they return from winter break, as well.

Alek Nelson

USU Vice President for Student Affairs James Morales instructs a man on how to use the COVID-19 test.

Third year biological engineering student Cheng Chen said the testing process was convenient and painless. He said it was nice that the testing swabs the school is using do not need to go as deep into the nose as some other tests. The swabs are inserted about an inch into the nostrils by the patient.

He also appreciated the opportunity to be tested because he works as a teaching assistant, meeting with students on a weekly basis. He wanted to make sure he is safe when around his wife and infant son.

“I’m the only one who works outside in, maybe some very dangerous places, so I need to make sure I am clear,” Chen said.

The testing process took about four minutes per student. First, students scheduled an appointment through aggiehealth.usu.edu and received a QR code. Students checked in, scanned their QR code and were given a barcode sticker. This barcode is kept with the test to quickly return results to students.

Testing center volunteers included everyone from Office of Student Affairs employees, pre-med students, and university administration. Volunteers wore PPE, including gowns, N95 masks and plastic face shields.

McKenna Rich, a pre-med student studying human biology, was one of the students volunteering at the center. Rich said she would be working there for multiple day for about eight hours per day. She said she felt the testing center operations were going pretty smooth.

“I think, given all the circumstances, the school has done really well with navigating all the changes because things are getting thrown at them, as well,” Rich said.

While signage at the center said results would be available within 24-48 hours, John Cockett, director of technology for the education college, said students could receive results as soon as Wednesday evening through the Aggie Health website.

Cockett, who is President Noelle Cockett’s spouse, said the university’s testing centers were the result of a team effort, with departments across campus helping out.

“I think it’s been incredibly good for the university because you have all these different groups … that are working together,” John Cockett said. “Normally, that doesn’t happen in the day-to-day operations of the university.”

The testing center will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday this week and Monday through Wednesday next week. The center near Maverik Stadium, which is now reserved for those with symptoms, will continue to process tests, as well. An email sent out Wednesday evening encouraged students to sign up for a time at the ballroom unless they:

• Received a test in the past week
• Received a positive test result in the past 90 days
• Have COVID-19 symptoms (These students should be tested at the stadium, which can be scheduled through the same website.)
• Are currently in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19

As of Nov. 11, the university reported 369 active cases, with 347 on the main Logan campus.

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—alek.nelson@usu.edu

@nelsonalek