Can Alabama College Students Skip The Next Phase Of Coronavirus Testing? Maybe.
GuideSafe, an initiative that tested 75,000 Alabama college students prior to classes, will roll out its next round of testing for the novel coronavirus.
The next phase is sentinel testing, in which up to 5% of students, faculty and staff will be randomly chosen for weekly testing. GuideSafe piloted the program at a few schools like the University of Alabama at Birmingham in late July. It will now be expanded to about 50 campuses across the state.
“What the school will be able to do [with sentinel testing] is see a snapshot for every week of what’s happening on campus,” said Bob Phillips, the executive director of GuideSafe, which was developed by a team of health informatics experts at UAB.
But do students, faculty and staff have to participate? Well, it’s complicated.
GuideSafe is recommending that campuses require participation, but ultimately, Phillips said, the decision “resides with the institution and their policies and protocols.”
Currently, at UAB sentinel testing is voluntary for most of the campus community. But some students are required to participate if they’re selected. This includes students who live on campus, participate in intramural club sports or are members of registered student organizations that hold in-person meetings with 10 or more people.
Either way, Phillips said they’re “strongly encouraging” participation even if the school isn’t requiring it.
“We really need a high level of participation,” Phillips said. “When those individuals get invited to participate, we need them to test because the best way to have a robust sample is to have a high level of participation.”
Editor Note: UAB holds WBHM’s broadcast license, but our news and business departments operate independently.
Trump is silent about Juneteenth on a day he previously honored as president
President Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. On this year's Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the president kept silent.
An appeals court backs Trump’s control of the California National Guard for now
The ruling maintains a block on a lower court's order that found President Trump was using the Guard in LA illegally in his immigration crackdown.
Federal judge says Trump administration can’t block state funding over immigration
The ruling comes ahead of a grant application deadline on June 20, which would have required states to agree to enforce the Trump administration's immigration agenda or lose transportation funding.
A former plantation becomes a space for healing, art and reparative history
Through a powerful blend of creative interpretation and ancestral memory, an Alabma town reckons with its past and begins to write a new chapter of shared truth.
Deadly listeria outbreak leads to recall of ready-to-eat fettuccine Alfredo meals
A nationwide listeria outbreak has been linked to 17 illnesses, and three deaths, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection.
As courts review military in L.A., immigration enforcement accelerates
Immigration enforcement speeds up in L.A. regardless of military presence
