CDC Issues New Testing Guidance for Colleges
Inside Higher Ed
Elizabeth Redden
October 2, 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 testing guidance for colleges Wednesday.
The new guidance includes fresh detailed information on how to prioritize testing for students, faculty members and staff members in the event of an outbreak. But it disappointed some experts who think the CDC’s guidance on testing asymptomatic individuals for disease monitoring and surveillance purposes falls short of what’s needed.
While a previous version of the guidance recommended against testing all students, faculty and staff upon their return to campus — so-called entry testing — the updated version states that “a strategy of entry screening combined with regular serial testing might prevent or reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission.”
The guidance stops short, however, of recommending entry testing combined with regular serial testing as a strategy, recommending instead that colleges consult with local public health officials to determine optimal testing strategies in light of their individual contexts.
