FAQs About Student Testing

At least 1,000 students are selected each week to be tested. Asymptomatic testing tracks the prevalence of COVID-19 among students who may not present any symptoms but may still spread the infection to others. NOTE: Starting the week of Feb. 8, Wake Forest will test all undergraduate students weekly until further notice.

If you are notified that you have been selected for COVID-19 testing, you are required to comply. The Public Health Emergency Addendum to the Undergraduate Student Code of Conduct requires that students “comply with all University policies and expectations that are implemented in response to the pandemic and that pertain to student conduct on-campus and off-campus.”

Those failing to comply will be subject to sanctions through the Student Code of Conduct process, including removal from on-campus housing, and/or suspension or expulsion.

Exemptions are limited to:

• students experiencing symptoms of COVID-19,
• students who are in isolation for COVID-19,
• students with documented acute medical conditions,
• have had a positive COVID-19 result in the past 90 days and have notified the University (see question below for details);
• and students who do not reside within a 45-mile radius of the Wake Forest University Reynolda Campus. NOTE: If you tell the University that you are living outside that radius and cannot come for testing, your DeaconOne Card will be deactivated. You will not be allowed to come to a Wake Forest University property or participate in University-sponsored programs off campus.

No other exceptions will be made. NOTE: If you are a student who is quarantining in place AND you do not have symptoms or feel ill, you are expected to test.

• If you are currently experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, or have other medical concerns, contact Student Health Service at 336-758-5218 or apptshs@wfu.edu.
• Submit your exemption (via this form) to the COVID-19 Coordinator if you have been selected for asymptomatic testing and you are currently in quarantine or isolation for COVID-19 at the direction of Student Health Service, have a documented acute medical condition, or do not reside within a 45 mile radius of the Wake Forest University Reynolda Campus.

You are required to get tested when notified, even if you have been vaccinated or have a prior positive COVID test result suggesting the possibility of antibodies.

If you do not meet any of the exemption criteria listed in the previous answer, you are still required to get tested through the testing program.

If your positive COVID test came within the past 90 days:

• Please submit a Rescheduling Form and indicate you have been positive within the last 90 days.
• Be sure that you have notified the University of any positive test, whether you live on or off campus. If you receive a positive test (and it was not administered by the Student Health Service), you must email your test result to traceshs@wfu.edu and covid-coordinator@wfu.edu immediately with your full name and student ID.

If your positive COVID test was more than 90 days ago:

• You must comply with asymptomatic testing, unless you meet the exemption criteria outlined above and in the test request email.

At this time, we do not know if the COVID-19 vaccinations will have any effect on preventing transmission of the virus. Some people can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 but remain asymptomatic, and it is currently unknown whether this is also true for people who have been vaccinated. Based on the recommendation of the University’s public health expert, students who have received a COVID-19 vaccine (including those who have received both doses) will not be exempt from the University’s surveillance testing program.

Students who have been vaccinated will have antibodies, but we are not testing antibodies. We are testing for virus. If a vaccinated student tests positive for COVID-19, that student will be required to comply with the same isolation requirements as unvaccinated students.

The University is, however, making an adjustment to quarantine requirements for students who have been vaccinated. Specifically, if a student has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and is later identified as a close contact due to contact tracing, the vaccinated student will not be required to quarantine if the student is asymptomatic. If the vaccinated student begins experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, they should immediately contact the SHS.

It is your responsibility to cancel your current appointment through the BioReference portal and schedule a new appointment. If you cannot reschedule your appointment using the portal, submit the need to reschedule to the COVID Coordinator using this form. If you do not reschedule for the current week of testing, you will be contacted by the COVID Coordinator.

You should receive a text message right after scheduling that includes confirmation number, time, date and the WFU address.

In addition, you can return to the portal and choose “Cancel Existing Booking.” Input your confirmation number, email address and phone number. On the next screen, titled “Booking Cancellation,” your appointment date/time will be displayed. Then hit “Go Back” or exit the portal.

Once your result is available, you will need to log into the BioReference portal to view your results, following these steps:

1. Go to go.wfu.edu/testresults and select PATIENT PORTAL.
2. Click the CREATE AN ACCOUNT button and complete the registration process. You must use your WFU email address.
3. If you need assistance accessing the portal, email patientportal@bioreference.com.

We anticipate the average wait time should be 48-72 hours until your results are posted. It could take longer depending on the demand across the country/availability of lab processing.

If your test result is positive:

• You will receive a call from the University Contact Tracing Team during normal business hours to review:
  • How and where to isolate
  • Resources for support during isolation
  • Determine others who may have been in contact with them during the time they were contagious (contact tracing)
  • To connect students who need medical attention related to any symptoms
• Until students receive a call from the University Contact Tracing Team, those with positive tests should follow CDC recommendations for isolation.
• Students who need medical advice on how to care for symptoms if they develop, can call the Student Health Service during normal business hours for guidance or to schedule an appointment. A nurse advice line is available for students who need urgent medical advice by calling the Student Health Service, appointments cannot be made on the after-hours line. Appointments in the Student Health Service are not required for those with a positive test or symptoms.
• Students do not need to notify the University or the Student Health Service of a positive result unless they need medical guidance.

If your test result is positive:

• You will receive a call from the University Contact Tracing Team during normal business hours to review:
  • How and where to isolate
  • Resources for support during isolation
  • Determine others who may have been in contact with them during the time they were contagious (contact tracing)
  • To connect students who need medical attention related to any symptoms
• Until students receive a call from the University Contact Tracing Team, those with positive tests should follow CDC recommendations for isolation.
• Students who need medical advice on how to care for symptoms if they develop, can call the Student Health Service during normal business hours for guidance or to schedule an appointment. A nurse advice line is available for students who need urgent medical advice by calling the Student Health Service, appointments cannot be made on the after-hours line. Appointments in the Student Health Service are not required for those with a positive test or symptoms.
• Students do not need to notify the University or the Student Health Service of a positive result unless they need medical guidance.

Until students receive a call from the University Contact Tracing Team, those with positive tests should follow CDC recommendations for isolation. Stay in their room/home and away from others and wear a mask.

Students do not need to notify the University or the Student Health Service of a positive result from asymptomatic testing unless they need medical guidance.* Please note that appointments in the Student Health Service are not required for those with a positive test or symptoms.

*Students who need medical advice on how to care for symptoms (if they develop) can call the Student Health Service during normal business hours for guidance or to schedule an appointment. A nurse advice line is available after hours for students who need urgent medical advice by calling the Student Health Service. Note: appointments cannot be made on the after hours line.

It is likely you will be notified more than once that you must get tested. While this may seem unfair, remember that each test only represents a snapshot in time.

Students who require disability-related accommodations to complete COVID-19 testing should email wfevents@wfu.edu.

You will not be asked to quarantine unless you are exhibiting symptoms or have come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

BioReference Laboratories, a nationally recognized lab that specializes in mobile testing, will use a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test utilizing anterior nares (nasal swab) collection. The swab is taken from the front of the nostril only and has been described as the least invasive of the different types of nasal swabs.

While asymptomatic testing for individuals is unnecessary, random testing of groups in congregate living environments, like college campuses, helps to track the prevalence of the virus and informs containment strategy and the University’s approach to protecting public health.

Unfortunately no.

Surveillance testing (or stratified random sample testing to be more specific) serves the purpose of 1) understanding the pervasiveness of the virus as early as possible; and 2) engage the contact tracing and investigation process to mitigate spread.  For that reason, we need to maintain the integrity of our stratified random sampling process.

If you are experiencing symptoms or believe you may have been exposed to someone known to have tested positive for COVID-19, please contact Student Health Service at 336-758-5218 or email apptshs@wfu.edu.

No, the testing area will not be crowded. Test appointments are spaced out to avoid a large group of people being present at any one time. The testing site was strategically selected to aid with social distancing. Staff will be present to monitor conditions and address any concerns.

Test results will be protected in compliance with FERPA. Test results will not be shared with a parent or guardian without a student’s specific consent. Student Health Service will notify Residence Life and Housing of the need to provide quarantine/isolation accommodations when necessary. (This may also be required by possible exposure and does not suggest a positive test result.)

Student Health Service must notify the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services of positive results but will not provide personally identifiable information. Aggregate data of confirmed COVID-19 cases will be reported on the Wake Forest’s COVID-19 dashboard and will include known positive, laboratory-verified test results reported to the Student Health Service. The source of these tests will be both clinical diagnostic testing and the testing program.

If you think you were exposed to someone with COVID-19, please report this on the SneezSafe screening tool, rather than calling or emailing the Student Health Service. However, if you have already completed your SneezSafe for the day, email traceshs@wfu.edu to say you may have been exposed.

You do not need to call the Student Health Service unless you have symptoms.

While you are waiting to receive guidance from Student Health Service or a contact tracer, you should quarantine (which means staying in your room and not socializing with others). You can get grab and go food or order in; please do not eat with others. You can go out of your room to use the bathroom; do not congregate or go in groups. A contact tracer will contact you to determine next steps.

NOTE: Do not worry if you do not hear from a contact tracer right away; it can take up to 24 hours.

We worked with infectious disease experts at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to design a random sampling program to assess the general presence and prevalence of the virus in our student population. The team developed a simple sampling model in which 1,000 or more students were selected from the undergraduate student populations. There is a great description of the details of the process here, and the results of each week’s testing are displayed on our dashboard.

Specific groups of students can be selected for further sampling. This has included student organizations, residence halls and areas off campus where there has been some indication of virus infections, typically involving a single individual or a small number within an organization. The pre-emptive testing of a given population is a way to assess whether the virus is more pervasive within that group of students than is readily revealed via symptoms. This testing is designed to determine if there are individuals with asymptomatic infection or potentially are “pre-symptomatic” in their infection. This special sampling allows our infectious disease experts to discern how significant a threat of further infection may exist within that population, enabling us to educate those groups or implement a public health response to contain the virus and ensure it cannot quietly spread undetected.

We report those numbers cumulatively with the random tests because, while not random, they are asymptomatic cases that are quite different from testing done for those students who present symptoms.

The decision is based on the amount of activity or interaction present in particular groups. The theory is that if there is a high level of interaction between students within a group, residence or neighborhood, then the probability of further spread is higher. So where there is some indication of the presence of the virus, and there is a significant level of interaction within a group, residence hall or neighborhood, it is wise to do a special sampling of those areas.

With 1,000-plus students invited every week, there should be a reasonable sample size of students from each class year. We would not select a sample based on the class year, except if it fit the other factors mentioned above.

The roommate and suitemate could be asked to participate in the extra sampling if their residence hall or floor was selected, but it would be a coincidence that both would be selected by the regular sampling. A roommate or suitemate could also be identified through contact tracing and referred for testing.

Not at this time. It is important to remember that tests of asymptomatic people are snapshots in time, and while someone may have tested negative last week, it is very possible that he or she could have been exposed since that test. It is also possible that the virus had not developed enough to be detected in the prior test. So we do not omit students because of previous test results.

A student could be randomly selected every week; though that is unlikely. With a small student body and 1,000-plus tests a week, however, it is likely that students will be selected multiple times during the semester. If you have heard of someone being tested multiple times in a few days, it is likely that he or she was selected randomly, then was selected due to an affiliation with an organization, residence hall or neighborhood that was drawn for special asymptomatic testing.

No.