Colleges should require COVID-19 testing prior to start of semester

As universities across the nation formulate plans for the 2020-21 academic year, concerns continue to grow over students returning to campuses.

Public health officials and politicians alike are confirming that they’re seeing a rise in positive cases in college-aged individuals nationwide.

During a press briefing in Dallas, Texas, on June 28, Vice President Mike Pence confirmed that the White House Coronavirus Task Force is seeing an upwards trend in cases among citizens under the age of 35.

Task force members Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deoborah Birx have both backed Pence’s claims, and on July 7 Fauci said the mean age of people getting infected is about 15 years younger than previously in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

While Indiana is in better shape than many other states, as hospitalizations and deaths have generally declined since May, it is among the states seeing more positive results come back for young adults.

On July 8, individuals aged 20-29 made up 16.2% of the total positive cases in the state. The percentage was the second-highest for positive cases behind the age bracket 40-49, which accounted for 16.6% of confirmed positive cases. Thirty-nine percent of the 49,063 total positive cases were attributed to persons under the age of 39.

In response to recent developments, Purdue University announced that it plans on having all West Lafayette-bound students tested for COVID-19 before they move into residence halls and attending classes in August.

All colleges offering in-person services should adhere to the same policy.

While Hoosiers can get tested for free through a service offered by OptumServe, it’s not as easy for some out-of-state students. By providing a means to get all students tested, Purdue makes an extra effort to help try and slow the spread of the virus.

Through its Protect Purdue initiative, undergraduate, graduate and professional program students will be tested beginning in early August before traveling to campus. Student test results will be sent to the Protect Purdue Health Center, and those testing positive will not travel to West Lafayette or come to campus for any reason until infected individuals isolate for 14 days and are medically-cleared to return by the Purdue health center

Purdue will rightfully cover costs of all student testing. The university is expecting a potential record number of freshmen this fall, with a student body of more than 40,000 total.

The plan from Purdue should be universally accepted by institutions of higher learning. Students and their families need to know that their schools are taking the pandemic seriously, and will go out of its way to protect students and staff.