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COVID update: Campus cases decline after storm, on-campus testing resumes

There are currently three Texas Woman’s University students, faculty and staff in isolation and 15 in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.

This is lower compared to Feb. 10, when 11 people were in isolation and 74 people were in quarantine.

“We are way lower in the numbers, and part of that is the continuation of the trend of course, but also we had everyone locked out of campus for a week, so that didn’t hurt as far as exposures,” Executive Director of Risk Management Matt Moustakas said. “I think what is more important is really that the overall trend has been going down.”

Free on-campus testing began Friday in the southwest section of the Lowry Woods parking lot. They will be provided by the company AlphaDERA Labs and will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. No appointment is required, and it is open to both TWU students, faculty, staff and the community. 

“The testing got delayed again because of winter weather, but they will be setting up midday [Thursday],” Moustakas said. “You can go just like the GoGetTested place, and you can register in advance if you want to, but you can just walk up or drive up.”

There is currently no word on whether or not Student Health Services will receive more vaccines to provide to the TWU community. They are signed up to accept both the Moderna vaccine and now the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“We are trying to be set up for the ones we can handle,” Moustakas said. “That excludes the Pfizer one just because of its very cold storage requirements, and we don’t have that in Student Services, but we are ready for those two as soon as they want to give us more.”

TWU is currently planning for what the fall semester of 2021 will look like, such as more in-person classes with more students but still requiring face coverings, Moustakas said. The university will follow what the Centers for Disease Control, state and local counties recommend during that time.

“Who knows,” Moustakas said. “It could be that we end up somewhere between where we are now and that default assumption as far as what preventive measures we have in place.” 

“It is really a planning assumption right now, because it is subject to change,” university spokesperson Matt Flores said. “You have to have something to start, I guess a baseline to start your planning.”

Laura Pearson can be reached via email at lpearson6@twu.edu.

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