The University of Florida’s new COVID-19 testing protocol requires all students living on campus or attending classes in person to be tested biweekly.
As a result, the number of COVID-19 tests at UF has significantly increased since last semester. According to Screen, Test and Protect, the number of COVID-19 tests in January alone surpassed the number of tests in all of the fall semester — over 50,000 tests.
With this sudden surge in COVID-19 tests, UF needs more workers to administer these tests. One major source of staff this semester has been students.
While the majority of the lab testing is done by UF medical school students, undergraduate students also have the opportunity to get involved in the process as well. Undergraduate students disperse the test tubes and straws used to collect saliva for the test and check samples to ensure students filled them up sufficiently.
First-year health science student Jordyn Adler wrote, “The most rewarding aspect of administering covid tests is the feeling that I am helping people during a tough time, and helping medical professionals who are overwhelmed,” she said. “Administering COVID tests has influenced my career path a little because it helped me realize I want a job in the health field.”
However, other students do not find helping out with COVID-19 tests meaningful or beneficial. For first-year elementary education major Sabrina Bonadio, the work is just a way to get more hours.
“I work for the O’Connell Center and we have a set number of hour requirements we have to reach, this is why I took most of my COVID shifts,” she wrote. “I feel as if my personal role checking the vials was not too important therefore I did not really feel extremely rewarded or fulfilled from working these shifts. It was more just a way of getting hours.”
UF has three COVID-19 testing locations on campus: UF Cultural Center Parking Lot, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and Broward/Newell Garage. All locations are open for walk-up testing, but appointments can be scheduled on a student’s ONE.UF account.
Concerns about a new, more contagious strain have increased safety protocols for students on campus. The CDC suggested double masking as a potential safeguard against the variant strain to tighten the fit of the mask. A report done by the CDC found that a tightly fit mask decreased aerosols (like those emitted by a cough) by 95%.
Vaccine rollout at UF has been slow and steady, with priority given to “front-line health care workers and those working in high-risk areas where they are most likely to encounter an exposure,” according to UFHealth’s COVID-19 updates page.
Most students fall lower on the vaccination priority list due to age and other risk factors, such as health. For now, students who live on campus or attend in-person classes are given biweekly COVID-19 tests, all thanks to the help of their peers.