Know your Terminology: On-campus Pilot Testing Program

Know your terminology

Surveillance testing

Ongoing activities that help monitor for a community- or population-level outbreak of COVID-19. Surveillance testing might sound unfamiliar, but it is actually a common practice for public health officials who want to assess local infection rates and trends. Surveillance testing is used to gather information at the population level (rather than an individual level). With surveillance testing, health professionals can sample a certain percentage of a population to get a sense of whether COVID-19 infections are increasing or decreasing. It also lets them know how well mitigation efforts—like social distancing—are working.

Find more information at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

On-campus testing schedule: pilot testing program with essential staff

On November 16 and 17, the COVID Response Team and Student Health Service team conducted a first round of COVID-19 testing for all essential staff. We had 230 participants spread out over the two days. We are happy to confirm that all results returned were negative. Our essential staff have done an excellent job in following safety protocols during the pandemic. We ask that you continue to remain vigilant in following COVID safety precautions: wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance, and following proper hand-washing hygiene. We would also like to extend our thanks to our essential staff for their patience as we continue to fine-tune the testing experience as we move forward together. Please remember to bring a copy of your insurance card.

For any questions related to our testing program, please email Contact.

Recap COVID-19 terminology from previous weeks below:
October 28 terms
November 4 terms