Utah leaders want to require that all college students in the state get COVID-19 testing once a week.
A mandate that would enforce that is expected to be announced early next week as part of Gov. Gary Herbert’s plans to address the record-setting spread of the virus — which has spiked with schools reopening this fall. The measure would apply to more than 230,000 students across the state.
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams, who has worked with Herbert to draft the requirement, confirmed to The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that it is in the works.
“It’s not a rumor,” he said. “The virus is spiking all over the country. And there are multiple reasons why. One is that colleges and universities have gone back.”
Adams said the rollout is expected to start Monday, but he cautioned it will be gradual. “This will be a mammoth undertaking,” he added.
Under the plan, all college students at the state’s eight public universities, as well as the eight technical colleges, would be required to get a coronavirus test weekly. The primary focus will be those who are attending in-person classes on campus.
The idea, Adams said, came when Utah officials met last weekend with Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two medical experts, Adams said, recommended testing college students as a way to find cases of COVID-19 — especially young patients who might be asymptomatic — and contain them before it spreads.
“These young people can spread it very, very prolifically and rapidly,” Adams said.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this developing story.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/32m6fFp
November 07, 2020 at 06:25AM
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