Any community member of Binghamton University who has been vaccinated and is asymptomatic can now schedule an appointment for COVID-19 testing.

The news was announced via Dateline on Sept. 7. According to a Sept. 16 article by the Press & Sun-Bulletin, BU had reported 187 COVID-19 cases during the two-week period prior to the article’s release — the most in the SUNY system. As of Sept. 19, the SUNY COVID-19 tracker for BU is sitting at 150 cases.

Asymptomatic members of the campus community may make ”appointments … one day prior to the testing, [which] are available on a first-come, first-served basis,” according to the Decker Student Health Services Center website. The Surveillance Testing Center in the Mandela Room in the University Union plans to hold up to 5,000 on-demand tests per week, with a limit of one test per person per week.

Ryan Yarosh, senior director of media and public relations at BU, said the testing provided guidance for recognizing the outbreak and adjusting strategies to control it.

“As we learned last year, testing can effectively identify outbreaks and trigger actions to contain them before they become widespread,” Yarosh said. “In fact, we lead the SUNY system in the number of tests performed.”

Yarosh said the increased testing efforts are a response to members of the campus community who believe robust testing leads to reassurance and provides access to testing for those exposed to students and colleagues that have tested positive.

“This additional capacity will allow more students, faculty and staff to get tested to help us identify potential spikes and respond quickly to keep the campus safe,” Yarosh said. “Any student can make an appointment and we plan on keeping this option available as long as it’s needed.”

Members who wish to have a COVID-19 test only need to arrive at the Mandela Room at the time of their appointment and line up to wait for the test.

Linh Nguyen, a junior majoring in accounting who lives off campus, said providing an on-campus testing location for students who need it has been helpful for both on- and off-campus students.

“[Students] can go to the Union to get tested without having to worry about spreading the virus to others while riding the bus to the testing site,” Nguyen said. “In addition, international students who are not too familiar with the area can benefit as well, as they do not have to search for a COVID-19 testing site.”

Kai Yan, a senior majoring in linguistics, said that opening up on-campus COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic students has eased her anxiety about working and taking classes in person.

“There’s no waiting after the test is done,” Kai said. “The school will email you the results and it only takes about 15 minutes to get the results. I get tested after I get too close to people, for peace of mind, because after all the COVID-19 virus has a latency period. Also this will provide a relief to students who are worried about in-person classes.”

Sabrina Li, a junior majoring in economics, said testing for asymptomatic students is especially important in the face of the threat of virus variants.

“The additional testing will go a long way toward reassuring the community and increasing confidence in in-person classes, and campus life returning to normal in the face of the challenges posed by the longer incubation period and higher transmission rate of the Delta variant,” Li said.