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'Nothing crazy': Cal Poly students get acclimated to new COVID-19 guidelines

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Cal Poly students returned to school this week with the start of winter quarter and although all students are taking classes online with few exceptions, the university is enacting mandatory COVID-19 testing.

Testing is required for students if they:

  • Live in university housing
  • Are enrolled in face-to-face courses
  • Work on campus
  • Participate in research on campus
  • Use any on-campus service (except the Health Center)
  • Live in the same household or congregate living facility (including a house, apartment, dormitory or fraternity/sorority house) with a Cal Poly student who meets any of the aforementioned criteria.

Though some students are worried about long lines for testing taking away from class, others said it's been a smooth process.

"They're testing us twice a week now, which is a whole lot more than last (quarter)," freshman Nick Dabney said. "And the tests are pretty unintrusive too, nothing crazy. I think they are going to move over to the mouth swabs soon, and super easy. And yeah, I feel like they're doing a really good job with all the (testing)."

Students who live off-campus — including those who live in the city of San Luis Obispo — and not with other Cal Poly students at the same address are not required to comply with the university's ongoing requirement.

Exemptions to the testing protocol are available if the student's classes are all virtual and:

  • they have a documented condition that makes participating in testing not possible or contrary to medical recommendations. Documentation regarding the condition must be on file with the Disability Resource Center.
  • they have tested positive for the coronavirus within the past 90 days, as certified by Campus Health & Wellbeing.