My D17 also goes to school in NY and we’re in GA. We’re still waiting on more details from her school (they have changed some over time of course) about how/when to do the test before traveling, when she should arrive to campus, and then how the quarantining would work. The college is not expecting students to quarantine off campus but wondering how they will get food etc. Also, if students have a test before arriving and then one or two follow-up tests once they are on campus, I wonder if they will still require a full two weeks of quarantine. D was apparently exposed to a covid-positive girl at work last Saturday and informed of it on Monday. It took D until Thursday to get an appointment for a test and got a negative test result today (quarantined this past week and lost out on work days), so a 3 day turnaround for results. That was a little faster than I expected. I think he college is still trying to do a number of classes in person. I hope it works out for that to happen - it would definitely be a bummer to have all online classes senior year.
I wasn’t able to sit in on the virtual town hall held yesterday by the Vanderbilt medical experts (will watch the recording), but most of what I’ve read from parents online was very positive. The parents were happy with the plan, and felt confident with the medical care that would be provided if needed. Still, it doesn’t seem like it will be a very enjoyable semester if most classes end up being online and all of the other social restrictions. Either way, S19 will be thrilled to get out of this house after 5 months. At least he gets to share an apartment with his good friend and have a little independence. Vandy also announced this week that they will send a test kit to each student so they can self-administer prior to returning to campus.
@PurplePlum - Sorry I haven’t had time to research this myself, but multiple parents in the Facebook group wrote about it. I’ll let you know if I see any more information.
@PurplePlum -
Before an undergraduate student comes onto campus for the first time this year, they must complete the following:
Complete acknowledgement of Return to Campus requirements in Oracle Learn.
Complete the COVID-19 test kit that will be mailed to student’s location.
All undergraduate students will be required to complete pre-arrival testing within 14 days before coming onto campus for the first time. One of the goals of this requirement is to reduce the potential for asymptomatic, infected undergraduates arriving on campus.
As a convenience to students and parents and as part of the health and safety guidelines to safely return to campus, COVID-19 test kits will be mailed to most undergraduate student’s current location.
@elena13 here in GA it is near impossible to get a test. But your D is lucky that she got that turnaround time and not the 10 day time. I have a feeling in your in the county that uses the other lab.
We are still waiting to see if RIT will offer anything to those who need to quarantine for the 14 days. or else its plan B.
Can you please be more specific? According to the GA public health website:
COVID-19 Testing/Direct Patient Lines
Testing is available to all Georgians who request it, whether they have symptoms or not. Individuals wanting to be tested can contact any Georgia public health department to schedule an appointment at a SPOC location convenient to them.
I would call that an outdated website. Many states (don’t know about GA) have gone back to requiring a person to have symptoms to get a test, because…testing kits are in short supply again, AND labs are overrun.
Even if we had enough testing kits, labs can’t process results in a timely fashion right now… not fast enough to make contact tracing meaningful.
Yup, where I am they instituted county wide testing to try test as many people as possible, so you don’t need symptoms to get a test. But it takes a couple of days usually to get an appointment, and because the labs are currently backlogged it’s 10-12 days to get a result. Which just about accounts for the entire quarantine period one should have been under if positive. You can get a faster test going private, but my understanding is that you still need to be showing symptoms or be knowingly exposed to get one of those.
Our current nervousness stems around if we (CA) will still be required to quarantine in NY by the time school starts, or I guess before then to know if we need to go earlier. It’s so disappointing how CA had totally flattened the curve to begin with and then got bored/complacent/lax/whatever.
Ok, so last Thursday I went on the website. I could get an appointment to wait in line for a test for Monday at 5. Then it would take up around 10 days for the results. So it would be 2 weeks from the time i wanted to test to get results. and even to get tested was going to be 4 days out. and that was with mild symptoms noted. I have to get Jack a test and results within 14 days of leaving for school. Will see what happens. I feel that the schools my kids are going to , and doing their own lab work, will have faster turnaround times.
I have been pretty frustrated with D19’s school recently. They’re still requiring summer work and work study contributions despite the challenges at the moment (and despite my D not being on campus in the fall) and today they emailed her that if she isn’t back in spring (even if it’s because the school is closed) they’ll throw all her belongings in the trash. They had previously stored all low income students’ stuff on campus. We offered to pay for shipping the stuff to our new house and they refused- they said she’ll have to have us drive her to PA from MN and get the stuff at the beginning of spring, regardless of whether school is open or if she’ll be there for classes. Seems like a weirdly stark turn for a school that has professed to really be there for their poor students.
According to the local paper, even here in MA test turnaround times have gotten really long. I guess the labs down south are so overwhelmed that they are shipping tests up here and its now clogging our labs. I think anyone who thinks there are quick turnarounds on tests in their neck of the woods may be working on outdated info.
@JBStillFlying - When I go to that website you linked and to the section relevant to my district, it directs me to set up an appointment and the only options on the calendar are this Wednesday - Saturday. If you go further in the process, all time slots are full and no appointments are available. The website gives no other options. This was the difficulty my D had last week trying to schedule a test, so she went through CVS. Even then, it took 3 days to get the appointment and 3 more days to get the results (and that was with some symptoms). I hope she can still do that in a few weeks when she needs a test timed at a certain time to return to college.
@elena13
You bring up an excellent point. If many schools are requiring testing prior to arrival on campus that’s going to cause a huge surge in asymptomatic people looking for testing and results within a very narrow timeframe. Question whether current testing supplies and lab availability can handle it.
@milgymfam -sorry, that does sound frustrating. My kids have been able to life guard this summer but not what either wanted to be doing and they are not able to make what they would typically need/want to make for school year expenses. S has been tutoring a little and D babysits some, so that extra money helps. I’m not sure how your D’s financial aid works, but it seems that work study money often goes toward personal expenses during the semester and summer earnings go toward direct costs billed by the school. Are you saying that the school expects your D to pay them what she would earn by work study this fall? That doesn’t seem realistic for sure. Since she’ll be living at home, maybe her expenses will be less and she’ll need less work study money? Can the CARES grant you mentioned help offset the expenses? Hope it works out.
My son’s school is accepting self tests for situations where someone is unable to get tested in person. They gave a list of acceptable online sources that will ship you a kit.
At home testing services:
Pixel by LabCorp
Everlywell
Vault
Vitagene
hims & hers
When ordering an at home test kit, you are asked a series of questions to determine eligibility. One of the options is “residing in congregate settings” which would apply to students. My son’s college said to make sure to select that option.
I haven’t ordered one because in our state, anyone can get tested. Our school suggested getting tested a minimum of two weeks prior to arrival on campus to ensure the results arrive in time.
Where my daughter attended school (Chatham County), testing is still available to anyone who requests it. So that’s not inconsistent with what’s announced at the state level. However, supply of test kits might be another matter and I’m sure that varies county by county.
In Chatham County, you can walk/drive up (in Savannah) or schedule a test for about 7 - 14 days out. Not an “impossible” situation, but not fun if it has to be timed exactly. Better to use the kids’ school’s facilities if they allow it. However, keep in mind that testing in another state generally isn’t allowed if one is a non-resident. If the school has a special testing protocol that all are required or invited to do, that’s the best option. If not, then one may not be able to get tested if an OOS resident (even if it’s the school’s labs).
CVS seems to work well both where we live in MN (and case rates here are increasing enough to land us on NY’s List). Just checked Savannah (GA) and nearby area and there are a couple of slots available a couple days out, despite the large uptick in that state. With symptoms, obviously your D would need to quarantine (which I’m sure she did). Asymptomatic exposure usually requires that you get tested 10 days out. No way to contact trace in either case. Frankly, if I didn’t need to get a test - I wouldn’t bother. The virus is simply too much within the general community to contact trace. On a college campus - different matter, since all schools should have a program of aggressive testing and contact-tracing in order to open.
Sounds like some families will need to contact their schools and explain that with the spike in cases nationwide and the existing backlog it’s going to be very difficult to test prior to showing up. That’s just the reality. These schools either need to provide on-site testing for the population showing up on campus this fall (multiple schools), or they need to mail you the test kit so you can conduct the test at home (as Vandy is doing) or direct you to where you can order it online (as posted upthread). These colleges are kind of dropping the ball to place all of the burden on the families. As if things aren’t stressful enough for you all!
@elena13 they seem to have calculated the need as lower than the costs when they redid the numbers, so those two are directly payable rather than expenses for fall. The CARES grant is definitely going toward it, and her scholarship is reaching out to make sure there wasn’t a mistake.