In a Feb. 4 email to the Cornell community, Vice President of Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi announced that the University’s COVID-19 surveillance testing plan will be modified to reduce the twice-weekly antigen testing to once a week PCR testing.
In the email, Lombardi noted that the number of positive-testing individuals leading up to the in-person start of the semester has been considerably less than predicted, citing this as a reason for the adjustment. The change has followed the move to alert level green, with 141 active COVID cases as of Feb. 6.
The eased regulations only apply to individuals who are both fully vaccinated and have received a booster dose. For students, faculty and staff who are unvaccinated, unboosted or in the process of applying for a vaccine exemption, the twice weekly testing requirement remains in place.
Furthermore, both supplemental testing at sites and symptomatic test kits will remain available throughout the semester.
The University had set a Jan. 31 deadline for individuals to upload booster dose documentation to their Daily Check; failure to do so will result in Canvas restrictions and denied entrance to campus facilities such as libraries, gyms and dining halls, which are particularly important as in-person instruction resumes on Feb. 7.
Students can check their Daily Check for their updated surveillance testing schedule.