UNC to offer students free COVID-19 testing as they leave Chapel Hill for winter break
As many students at UNC-Chapel Hill head home later this month as the fall semester wraps up, the university will offer free COVID-19 exit testing.
Classes end Nov. 17. The university is asking all students to get tested, even if they don’t have symptoms.
Campus Health will do the saliva-based testing at the Carolina Union with extended hours during the week of Nov. 16. Students can expect results in about two days.
Symptomatic individuals and those who are close contacts to those who’ve been exposed should contact Campus Health separately to schedule a COVID-19 test, according to the university.
UNC is also asking students to reduce their risk of exposure for the 14 days before they travel home as they get ready to leave their apartments, houses and residence halls. The university also advised students to get a flu shot before they leave.
Campus Health Director Ken Pittman said getting tested and monitoring symptoms are critical steps to “helping prevent illness in the people you love.”
“Taking a COVID-19 test is an important step in protecting your family and friends who you may be reunited with over the Thanksgiving holiday,” Pittman said.
UNC students will also get COVID-19 tests this spring when they return to campus.
This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 12:36 PM with the headline "UNC to offer students free COVID-19 testing as they leave Chapel Hill for winter break."
