By Crystal Wang '25
Photo Courtesy of Jin Wen Xie '24
With active Covid cases on the decline, now is a good time to review the testing protocol that the administration has in place and reflect on how it affected students. To do this, I contacted the administration and did some of my own research to see whether their answers checked out.
The administration was quick to contact me with answers to the questions I had including what exactly their testing protocol was. On paper, they seem to have a pretty comprehensive protocol for testing: Those who aren’t fully vaccinated must undergo prevalence testing with tests available in the vending machine at Sadler. Symptomatic people who go to the Student Health Center are assessed and given a test if necessary. Anyone feeling unwell should call the Student Health Center. If you think you are a close contact, you should report it to “ReportCOVID.wm.edu” and a case manager will contact you for testing (it is important to remember the date of the contact). As for when you can get tested, “For students receiving testing through the Student Health Center, appointments are available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. For close contacts, tests being picked up at the Sadler Center may be accessed [...] during their regular operating hours.”
While this system seems simple and effective on paper, it is much less so in practice. For some, it works as it should. One student, Charlotte ‘25 recalls having virtually no problem getting a test. She says that she was symptomatic and walked into the Student Health Center for a test early in the morning. While they said that she needed an appointment, they were able to squeeze her in and she got her test after half an hour.
But, for others, the process is much more arduous. I interviewed another student, one who was in close contact with a positive case and she was possibly symptomatic. She (Mia ‘25) walked into the Student Health Center at 11:10 only to be told that the clinic closed ten minutes ago and she must submit a form online at ReportCOVID.wm.edu. Her case manager contacted her and suggested going to the Health Center, which she had already done. She was then told by the Health Center to either get an off-campus test or self-quarantine until Thursday to get an on-campus test. She was also not allowed to get a test at the Sadler vending machine since they are only for those who have been contacted-traced and are asymptomatic. She was fortunate enough to have a relative that had a car to loan her and got an off-campus test which turned out to be negative. Unfortunately, her ordeal wasn’t over. Her case manager asked her to call the campus physician to report her negative result. The physician was very apologetic and seemed disappointed in the system. He told her to get a test at Sadler on Friday since she was no longer symptomatic. It took her from Tuesday morning to Friday afternoon to be cleared by the school.
Photo Courtesy of Crystal Wang '25
Of course, it doesn’t matter what the protocols are when nobody knows about them. The administration’s answer for whether students are informed was lacking and vague. They said information can be found online at the Path Forward website as well as through social media and news stories. They also claim to provide it through campus messages. Their response claims that “The university has made every effort to inform students of these steps”
This doesn’t really answer my question since they made no remarks as to whether students are actually informed so I went on the search myself. I posted an informal poll on a Freshman group chat since they were the class with no prior knowledge of William and Mary’s Covid protocols. I asked whether they knew the protocol for getting a Covid test with the options “Yes, I know everything I need to know”, “All I know is that something with the wellness center”, and “No, I don’t have a clue”. With 115 responses (not including my own), only 18 people knew everything they needed to know (15.7%). 47/115 people knew it had something to do with the wellness center and 49/115 people had no clue. While the school claims to have put in every effort to inform students about the testing protocols, the majority of people in the poll had no clue what the protocols were.
Despite the issues some have faced and the lack of knowledge among the class that needs it most, the university feels that the protocol is working well. They are basing this on the decreasing active case number (at the time I am writing this article, the number is at 18). But we must ask ourselves whether this is a result of testing, especially since around 1650 tests have been administered in a school with around 8000 students.