New COVID-19 Protocols on Campus Rely on Wastewater Testing

Santa Clara ended the voluntary weekly surveillance COVID-19 testing of students on July 28 due to the closure of the PCR testing program from Color Health Lab, once a crucial tool in tracking cases on campus. Instead, the COVID-19 team is monitoring wastewater analysis to detect the prevalence of the virus on campus.

However, this decision has proved to be more cost-efficient for the university, as they no longer have to support PCR resources. With this new direction, the university is completely reliant on self-reported positive test results and wastewater data.

“As we have less reported tests and less ways to monitor cases, the wastewater allows us to see concentration levels of COVID-19 and other viruses,” said Debbie Gray, the project manager at Santa Clara’s department of operations.

Santa Clara’s response team tracks seven different viruses via the wastewater, including influenza, RSV, PMV, norovirus and monkeypox. They can only collect 57% of data from the resident halls due to sewage designs but work closely with Santa Clara County to monitor virus levels. Data collected is shared with the public on the Santa Clara COVID-19 dashboard and allows the community to see trends and regular data on the virus online.

Many institutions have eased their COVID-19 restrictions and no longer utilize the majority of the infrastructure established at the beginning of the pandemic. This academic year, the University of San Francisco no longer offers free COVID-19 testing or requires the vaccine for admission. The Santa Clara response team now relies heavily on the community to self-report positive cases and to follow guidelines outlined on the prepared SCU online page.

“Everyone plays a role in following protocols,” said Sean Collins, senior director of environment, health, safety and sustainability at Santa Clara. “It is in the greater good of the entire university to keep things going with minimum disruption and hopefully, prevent students from getting sick and missing class for an extended period of time.”.

With effective vaccines and treatments, most students no longer feel threatened by the possibility of contracting it. Therefore, fewer students are taking COVID-19 tests and reporting their results. Testing compliance will continue to decrease, making wastewater testing a useful indicator of virus levels. The response team utilizes this proactive approach to target communities such as specific resident halls on campus that show a spike in cases and provide resources that consist of testing kits, masks and protocols.

“We’re always looking at these policies through the lens of our mission and visions,” Gray said. “Our values are that we care for one another and that we are concerned for the most vulnerable people in our community.”

Emergency isolation rooms are still available, although there are fewer designated rooms compared to last year, which have not been used this school year. These accommodations are managed through Santa Clara’s housing office. The COVID-19 team urges students and staff to isolate in place by quarantining in one’s own place of residence, a policy that is consistent with other universities.

The university housing isolation policy currently operates with an isolate-in-place model in the residence halls, meaning that students remain in their assigned room in most cases. They have limited isolation space, but are able to evaluate space across all residence halls as the need arises.

With new variants constantly evolving, the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak is ever-present, especially for large communities like a university campus. However, many are confident that the situation will not be as dire as the earlier outbreaks.

“The potential to return to obligatory masks is always there, but I think it’s unlikely that we have an usually high outbreak or are ordered to do so by the county,” Collins said. “The priority is to keep students in class and being able to participate in all the amazing things on campus and the only way to do that is to test when you don’t feel well and follow the protocols.”

The Cowell center also provides self-assessed rapid antigen tests, but most tests are more accessible for students in the Test Forms and More vending machine in the Learning Commons. An active FLEX account is required to purchase the five cent rapid test. Santa Clara is required to provide free testing to all employees. Both the Cowell center and Santa Clara County work closely with the university’s COVID-19 response team to mitigate the risk of outbreaks.

While supplies last, KN95 masks are available at locations across campus including the Benson memorial center, campus safety office, Cowell center, residence halls, the Learning Commons and at the Jesuit school of theology front desk.

All incoming students, faculty and staff are still required to be vaccinated against COVID-19–which includes the original primary series and one booster or an updated single dose.

The Cowell center is sponsoring an influenza vaccine clinic from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23 in the Williman room. The vaccines are free for the first 25 students who attend the event and $25 per person after that. No registration is needed.

If you need additional access to rapid testing resources or have any questions, please contact covid19@scu.edu.