UConn Officials: Coronavirus Re-Entry Tests 'Successful'

STORRS, CT — University of Connecticut officials Tuesday said that the school's requirement for dual re-entry testing for students prevented the introduction of 76 active coronavirus cases into the residential student body as the spring semester began.

The cases were "largely asymptomatic," university officials said.

Students who live in the Storrs and Stamford residence halls were required to test at home between Jan. 10 and 13 and, even if they tested negative there, were tested again in person over the weekend during the spring semester move-in process, officials said.

The procedure caught 56 cases during the at-home testing, and another 20 among students who had initially tested negative but developed the virus in the meantime before coming back to campus and testing positive on site Saturday or Sunday, university officials said.

"Our plans epitomize the strength of our collaborative practice as a research university," said Eleanor Daugherty, UConn’s associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students. "I'm grateful for the leadership of our medical team, the innovation of our research faculty, and our student commitment to good health. We do this together."

Off-campus students with classes or other on-campus obligations also must test negative before they can participate in campus activities, for which the in-person components start Feb. 1, officials said.

UConn officials said the school also plans to nearly double the amount of student tests conducted during the fall semester (up from 45,000 then to 75,000-plus in spring), along with expanding the pooled saliva testing and wastewater testing throughout spring semester.

About 4,800 students are expected to live in UConn residence halls during spring semester, including about 140 in UConn Stamford student housing.

About 6,400 Storrs-based students will be living off campus but visiting for at least one class, while about 10,400 will be taking courses fully online with no on-campus presence.

Several thousand other students at the regional campuses and School of Law also will be partly on campus and/or fully remote.