Elon University is closed today, and antigen testing, as part of COVID-19 testing, has been canceled. Testing remains mandatory, and students will be contacted about rescheduling their appointments Friday or Saturday, depending on the effects of the storm. Today’s testing was suspended following the cancelation of university operations after the National Weather Service in Raleigh issued a winter storm advisory for Alamance County until 7 a.m. Friday.
Two Elon sophomores said the cancelation of today’s testing is an inconvenience for students and the hope to have answers on how to proceed soon. Some members of the Elon community want the university to do more to ensure required testing is completed.
Elon University sophomore Stephanie Miljanic is currently self-isolating after she learned she may have been a close contact of a person with a positive case of COVID-19. Miljanic said the university told her she would not be able to get tested until her weekly appointment if she was not experiencing symptoms. Her weekly appointment is on Thursday mornings.
“I was extremely upset because I have been self-isolating for two days because my friend who I interacted with when she wasn't wearing a mask for over an hour tested positive,” Miljanic said. “I called campus and tried to get a test on Wednesday and they said I couldn't and I had to wait till my appointment on Thursday.”
Miljanic said she will remain in self-isolation, separate from her roommate until she can get an appointment through the university. The announcement that students will not know about rescheduling their tests until at least tomorrow left Miljanic feeling uncertain.
“I had a close contact and they didn’t do anything to get me tested,” Miljanic said. “They said, ‘I’m sorry, you have to wait till your testing day.’”
Throughout the fall semester, the university reported nearly 900 coronavirus cases among students, faculty and staff. More than 10% of students contracted the virus during this period. For Winter Term and the spring semester, the university increased coronavirus testing beginning the week of Jan. 18 to help detect the presence of the virus within the campus community.
Miljanic said amid all of the uncertainty, she just hopes to get an antigen test soon to ease her mind.
Elon University sophomore Lily Kays said they found the cancelation of the antigen tests to be an inconvenience. Kays said she has a busy schedule and not knowing when she can get tested again creates a feeling of uneasiness, especially since testing is mandatory.
“It’s one of the things where I was slightly annoyed only because I’m a very busy person, most Elon students are really packed, because we have a lot of clubs, we have work and class,” Kays said. “It’s kind of the Elon standard at this point.”
Kays said students having to now schedule an alternate time to get their weekly test is bothersome, especially in a small window.
“My Fridays are the one day that I'm able to take an afternoon kind of off,” Kays said. “So the idea that I have to squeeze in a 30 minute period where I’m going to walk over for 10 minutes, probably be in line for 10 minutes, go back home for 10 minutes and they're not even giving an option of Monday or Tuesday, you have to do it in this two day period and there’s no adjustment.”