Heading home for the holiday? Get a virus test, colleges say

Since early November, the researchers have seen a noticeable uptick in schools requiring or encouraging students to get tested before Thanksgiving.

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November 20, 2020 - 3:26 PM

A man wears a face mask to protect against COVID-19 as he leaves the campus of the UCLA college on March 6, 2020 in Westwood, California. Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images/TNS

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — As college students prepare to go home for the holidays, some schools are quickly ramping up COVID-19 testing to try to keep infections from spreading further as the coronavirus surges across the U.S. 

Thousands of cases have been connected to campuses since some colleges reopened this fall, forcing students to quarantine in dorms and shifting classes online. Now, many students are heading home for Thanksgiving, raising the risk of the virus spreading among family, friends and other travelers. 

“The responsibility and the reach of the impact is not just to the student body anymore, it’s to those close contacts,” said Emily Rounds, a student who helps collect data on college testing plans nationwide for the Crisis College Initiative at Davidson College. 

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