COVID-19 Information

August 20, 2020

Dear Campus Community,  

I’m writing today after receiving several questions about COVID testing and SIUE testing policies. With the recent increase in COVID testing positivity rates in Madison County, I know this is on the minds of our faculty, staff and students.    

First, you should know that some forms of COVID testing already have been occurring this summer. Our student-athletes were tested regularly as part of their screening protocol to campus this summer through a partnership with Health Service.    

In addition, Health Service Director Riane Greenwalt has been working directly with the Madison County Health Department to conduct testing for SIUE individuals who have experienced exposure or symptoms from COVID, and to monitor the COVID situation and how it is affecting our campus and our area. You can visit the Madison County andSIUE COVID websites for the most up-to-date information.    

Will SIUE have testing available?  

Yes. Starting the week of August 24, all SIUE individuals (faculty, staff and students) who have symptoms, are worried that they have been exposed, or simply want to confirm their status as positive or negative can schedule a test to be completed at Health Service, which is located in Room 0222 in the Student Success Center. We will begin with limited testing capacity and will expand in future weeks.  Please look for additional communication early next week.    

Individuals working at the East St. Louis or Alton campuses may receive testing at the Student Success Center. Testing will be available at the We Care Clinic on the East St. Louis campus weekly. We will share more information as it becomes available.    

How will testing work?  

Particularly for those on the ground (residential students, on-ground and hybrid course enrollees, and instructors/staff working on-site), we encourage you to consider being tested if you have concerns.    

Testing will be available daily, Monday-Friday. Participants will be expected to schedule an appointment.  Staff in the Health Service office will try to disperse testing times to de-densify traffic.  

The test will be processed through insurance, so please bring your insurance card with you. If your insurance does not cover the test, be assured that the cost of the testing process will be covered by SIUE. We do not want the cost of tests or an individual’s insurance situation to deter them from seeking testing as needed.  

What happens after I am tested?   

If you are being tested because of symptoms or suspected exposure, we ask you to quarantine after the test until you receive results. Health Service will work with a third-party testing company. Their turnaround time for results is approximately 72 hours.     

After testing, you will be notified by someone in Health Service. The format of the test is a nasal swab test. If the result is positive, we will inform Madison County Health Department for the appropriate contact tracing follow-up.    

I heard that the University of Illinois has developed a test.  Will we be utilizing that in the future?  

As many of you know, the U of I began talking with public higher education institutions in Illinois approximately 6 weeks ago about being our testing partner. We had hoped that testing model could be implemented at SIUE by mid-August. However, U of I just received FDA approval for their test earlier this week. It will probably take an additional 6-12 weeks before they are fully equipped to partner with us in implementing large-scale testing.     

We will try to expedite that timeline as much as we possibly can, but many of those elements are not in our control. For those interested, they received FDA approval for their saliva test to be a surveillance test. Therefore, positive results will require a second test from a different test provider for verification. Turnaround time for the U of I test is less than one day. The additional second test would probably require 2-3 more days for confirmation.   

While we want to assure that testing is available for the SIUE community, CDC, IDPH, IBHE and the Madison County Health Department consistently point to three factors as the most effective way to avoid COVID: social distancing, masks and frequent hand washing. In addition to our testing protocols, we urge you to continue these behaviors for your safety and the health of others.   

If you have questions about COVID testing at SIUE, please notify the Health Service office.  

Thank you for all you do. 

Randy Pembrook

Chancellor
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville