Boise State pledged to test students for COVID-19 before opening dorms. Now it can’t.
Boise State University has backed down from a plan to test every student living on campus for COVID-19 before moving in.
The school announced the mandatory tests as part of its back-to-school plan in June. That plan originally required all 3,000 students living on campus to test negative for the coronavirus before moving in.
But Boise State lifted that requirement, citing the lack of available tests in the Boise metro area.
“Testing for asymptomatic individuals is not readily available in the Valley,” university spokesman Greg Hahn wrote in an email to the Idaho Statesman. “Timeliness of results is also an issue. We agreed early on not to use any local testing service if capacity became an issue.”
The lack of testing also led Boise State to lift its requirement on all employees testing negative before returning to work.
Boise State will instead ask students to take a coronavirus test in their hometowns — if they are available — before moving into campus housing.
That housing will include students sharing dorm rooms.
Boise State’s fall semester starts Aug. 24. Students can move into on-campus housing Aug. 18, 19 and 20. The Broncos spread move-in day over three days this year to help prevent crowding and the spread of COVID-19.
The Broncos will ask students on campus to monitor their own symptoms daily and report any symptoms to the university’s public health office.
“We are asking for students to be vigilant about preventive measures (those we and CDC are promoting — facial coverings, physical distancing, enhanced hygiene and diligent symptom monitoring) even prior to arrival,” Hahn wrote. “We plan active and intense cleaning prior to and upon student arrival.”
Students living off campus do not need to test negative before the fall semester starts.
Treasure Valley health care leaders detailed the strain on testing resources last week to several public boards.
David Peterman, the CEO of Primary Health Medical Group, spoke to the Central District Health board. Mark Nassir, the president of Saint Alphonsus, and Kenny Bramwell, the medical director for St. Luke’s children’s hospital, told the Boise School Board their hospitals don’t have the resources to test patients without symptoms.
“It’s not just testing materials that are the limiting factor,” Peterman said. “A greater factor is staff. And I don’t think this is something that the public, or for that matter the national media or maybe yourselves, are aware of.
“The strain on staff is so that even if you did have enough testing equipment, you can’t test everyone.”
The coronavirus has continued to spread throughout Ada County since Boise State announced its back-to-school plan June 12. The county had 811 confirmed coronavirus cases June 12. It reported 6,681 as of Sunday, more than eight times as many.
Boise State will still require face masks or coverings indoors on campus. It also requires them outdoors when 6 feet of social distancing isn’t possible.
