Required testing has spilled from students into the surrounding community. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Jan. 19 began requiring testing for students.
Alia Jones, an on-campus Michigan State student, said, “While I understand the university’s concern for monitoring students with being a pre-law student, I believe that students should be afforded the opportunity to opt out if they don’t feel fully comfortable with sending their saliva to an unknown site.”
She said it can be a threatening tactic because MSU says failure to comply with mandatory weekly testing can result in expulsion.
While it is important to continue social distancing on campus, cases are also transmitted off campus. An East Lansing bar was found to be a “hot spot” with more than 180 cases linked to it. Because of occasions like this, the state strongly recommended colleges and universities implement required weekly testing for anyone associated with the campus community.
According to data from the Ingham County Health Department, there seems to be a similar pattern between East Lansing and the MSU community with a spike in cases from November to the beginning of January. The incidence curve on the health department’s website shows cases rising from about 100 cases to more than double with 250 cases during those months.
Tasha Young, an MSU senior who lives off campus, said, “I don’t think it’s as necessary for the off-campus students to be tested weekly, but I definitely get from a logistical standpoint why we have to get tested because on-campus students may interact with off-campus students.”
