Wright State Physicians | Photo by Caitlin Shatsby | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University (WSU) planned to test residential students for COVID-19 following Labor Day weekend, only to run out of tests the first day they were offered. Following the incident, the university is working to maintain enough tests to be able to test regularly.
Labor Day testing
WSU Housing and Residential Life informed residential students on Sept. 7 that they were required to perform an at-home COVID test between the dates of Sept. 8 and Sept. 10. By the end of the day Sept. 9, the university had run out of tests altogether. More tests were to be available the following week, but testing was then described as optional.
“We are trying to have as many residents as possible take the test, but it’s not required,” WSU Director of Residence Life and Housing said in a campus-wide email on Sept. 9.
WSU Housing ran out of tests a second time the following week, causing WSU students to wonder how the university plans to require regular testing in the spring semester.
“I know that they still have some time to figure out the kinks, but if they can’t even offer enough tests to cover students over a holiday weekend, I don’t see how they’re going to actually make COVID testing a requirement,” WSU junior public health student Michaela Banville said.
Increasing COVID testing
At the Sept. 20 Faculty Senate meeting, WSU announced that a partnership with Premier Health was in the works to help provide more testing and vaccination options for students.
“We will be housing a centralized vaccination and Testing Service, it will be actually a third party, our premier health partners will be staffing that for us. And we hope to have that up and running in the next couple of weeks,” WSU President Sue Edwards said during the Faculty Senate meeting.
Aside from the ongoing plans to work with Premier Health, WSU students report that obtaining an at-home COVID test from the university is easier to do when they are not required.
“I felt the need to take a COVID test not too long ago as a safety precaution and it was much easier to get one this time around. They actually had some available this time,” WSU junior biology student Zoe Paxhia-Poppaw said.
The Wright State Guardian reached out to the university for a statement regarding the shortage of COVID testing. No comment was provided.
