January 12, 2022

To: Members of the University Community
From: Katie Callow-Wright, Executive Vice President of the University and Chief of Staff in the Office of the President

Thank you for your careful attention to updates we are sending on pandemic-related topics.  I write today with details about arrangements for symptomatic and surveillance testing at the University.

As announced on December 23, the University’s COVID-19 testing program has been temporarily expanded to allow for testing of symptomatic individuals, due to limited testing available elsewhere. Tomorrow, January 13, we will open a testing location in Stuart Hall that will be the exclusive campus location for symptomatic testing. Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms should not go to the Walker or Gleacher sites for testing. The University’s testing locations at the Walker Museum (open Monday through Friday) and Gleacher Center (open on Fridays) will provide asymptomatic testing only (for the Mandatory Surveillance Testing and Exposure Testing Programs).

To schedule a test, please log in to the my.WellnessPortal. The symptomatic testing site is located in the lower level of Stuart Hall in Room 007. Please access the building by entering the southeast entrance door. More information about symptomatic testing is available on the UChicago Forward website.

Other Testing Programs

• Voluntary Surveillance Testing Program: This program has been temporarily paused to accommodate greatly increased demand for people with symptoms, those who have been exposed to COVID-19, and those who must be tested to meet University or public health requirements. We will seek to resume weekly voluntary testing after the current demand for symptomatic testing has subsided.
• Mandatory Surveillance Testing Program: Students and employees with an approved medical or religious exemption for vaccination or booster shots are subject to mandatory weekly testing. The University is also requiring all individuals living in residence halls, regardless of vaccination status, to participate in weekly COVID-19 testing as part of the Mandatory Surveillance Testing Program until further notice. The requirement also applies to winter sport athletes. Information on how to sign-up for weekly testing is available on the UChicago Forward website.
• Exposure Testing Program: Students and employees who do not have COVID-19 symptoms and have been informed by the University and/or a medical or public health entity, or have reason to believe that they had close contact with a COVID-19 positive person, can sign-up for a test on the my.WellnessPortal and complete the required consent and HIPPA forms here.

General Reminders

• A consent and HIPAA authorization form is required to receive a symptomatic or exposure test. This is only required if you are not a current testing program participant or if you haven’t received a COVID-19 test in the University’s testing program this academic year.
• The University’s testing program is a saliva-based test. Eating, drinking, or smoking is not permitted an hour before your test.
• Walk-in testing is not available – if you do not already have an appointment, please self-schedule a test.
• Please plan for longer testing wait times given the increased demand for testing.
• Please note that on January 17 for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the Walker Museum and Stuart Hall testing sites will have reduced hours of 8 am – 1 pm.

Questions

If you have questions related to applying for the testing program or the testing program in general, contact C19Testing@uchicago.edu. Please view our testing web page for answers to frequently asked questions.