Mass testing brings relief to on-campus COVID-19 fears

On Friday, November 13, Gustavus held a campus-wide mass testing event in Lund in the hopes of identifying anyone on campus who had an unidentified case of COVID-19.
The Gustavus Health Service teamed up with the Minnesota Department of Health and Nicollet County Public Health to plan the mass testing. Staff from the Marketing and Communication and Campus Activities Board recruited Gustavus student and staff volunteers to monitor and help run the event.
“We learned that we would have the opportunity to do the event one week before the actual event, so there was a lot to pull together in a short amount of time, but with everyone working together it happened rather seamlessly,” Director of Health Service Heather Dale said.
As the state of Minnesota is currently experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases, mass testing events are one way a community is able to identify possible positive cases before more people become infected with the virus.
“Mass testing sites were one of the solutions for being able to help get in front of the spread of cases around the state… simultaneously, we were having an uptick in cases at Gustavus. As we were talking to the Nicollet County Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Health, it all came together that it would make sense that Gustavus was a mass testing site because of the convergence of those factors,” Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students JoNes Van Hecke said.
The mass testing event attracted just under 1,400 participants. The majority were Gustavus students, though some college employees took advantage of the event as well.
“I think the mass testing went extremely efficiently. I worked the last shift of the day, and clearly by that point everybody was clockwork and knew what they were doing. I heard that there were longer lines earlier in the day, so I am really grateful for the people who hung out in the long lines and stuck with it, and the people who came back and still gave it a chance. I am so appreciative of the Gusties who took advantage of it to get tested,” VanHecke said.
Students returning home for the holiday break and students who are remaining on campus got tested.
“My roommates and I all got tested. Even though I’m not going home for Thanksgiving, I thought, with the little exposure to people I do have, it is my responsibility to make sure I’m not potentially exposing them. It felt a little chaotic, a little dystopian, not going to lie. Once we got in and I got my kit it was very self explanatory and accessible,” Senior Chelsea Boyden said.
“I am planning on returning home to my parent’s house this coming weekend so I thought I should get tested in advance of that so I don’t get them sick, as well as making sure that the college has accurate COVID-19 counts and that I wasn’t asymptomatic,” Junior Carley Swanson- Garro said.
The COVID-19 tests at the event were saliva tests provided by Vault labs, a company which is working with the Minnesota Department of Health. All those who got tested spit into a vial, which was then processed in a facility in Oakdale, MN using a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to detect the virus. This PCR spit test is just as accurate as more ‘traditional’ nasal swab COVID-19 tests, though both tests may take 2-14 days to come back as positive after someone has been exposed to COVID-19. The mass testing was timed so that anyone who tested positive had time to properly isolate before potentially going home, which greatly reduces their risk of spreading the virus to their families and friends.
“I went right when it opened at noon. There was a little bit of a line outside Lund, but once they opened the doors it took about half an hour to get through the line to get tested. Testing was super simple, [and] a bit awkward, just because you’re spitting in a little tube in front of several hundred people, but it was good,” Swanson-Garro said.
During the event, students had to make an account on the Vault website, which had some problems through the afternoon. However, these issues were due to the fact that so many people were logging on to get tested.
“The staff from MDH and Nicollet County Public Health were both very complimentary of the amazing volunteers as well as the participants. They commented on how polite and respectful everyone was, which is no real surprise to me…Gusties ROAR,” Dale said.
“I think the challenge of any testing is that unless you get tested and you’re positive, you’re only safe until the next time you’re exposed to the virus and need to get tested again… I don’t think that means we shouldn’t get tested, I think that getting tested is really good, especially when we have opportunities to do so in the community… Gusties really stepped up and tried to reduce their close contacts, tried to be vigilant about all best practices, because now we’re seeing those numbers go down again. Every Gustavus community member’s commitment to being their most vigilant, careful self is going to go so much further than anything else we can do” Van Hecke said.
On Tuesday, November 17, the Office of Marketing and Communication sent out an email revealing that of the 1,373 students, faculty, and staff who had gotten tested, only twenty individuals tested positive for COVID-19, giving Gustavus a total positivity rate of 1.5 percent.
“When we got the results I was surprised at how low the numbers were, and I’m hoping that’s a good thing and that the results are accurate. I’m hoping people don’t take their or their friend’s negative results as a green light to not socially distance and make poor choices that could easily harm them and their families,” Boyden said.
Despite the Lay Low policy on campus and the ever-present reminders about COVID-19 safety, not all students are practicing healthy habits for reducing the spread on campus.
“I see people wearing their masks incorrectly below their nose, or they won’t have them on. Even when you’re in an academic building by yourself, your mask should still be on. Just remembering those guidelines to keep everyone safe is still important,” Swanson-Garro said.