Today@Sam Article

Free COVID-19 Testing For Students

Aug. 18, 2020
SHSU Media Contact: Emily Binetti

Beginning the week of September 21, all COVID-19 testing on the Sam Houston State University campus will be free of charge for current students.

Additionally, the university will partner with Huntsville Memorial Hospital for COVID-19 testing for students every Tuesday, beginning September 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The HMH drive-up/walk-up testing site will be located outside, at the back entrance to the clinic. Students should pre-register online and bring their Bearkat OneCard to the test.

The Student Health Center will continue to provide symptomatic and exposure testing for students Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students should call the SHC to make an appointment.

“One of the reasons we are encouraging a broad testing approach to include symptomatic, close contact and screening testing is because of our unique situation in an academic setting and congregate living facilities on campus,” Erica Bumpurs, Student Health Center director said. “It helps us to mitigate spread by identifying positive cases and using the proper protocols for quarantine or isolation.”

Though their collaboration with HMH and Walker County, SHSU has the added opportunity for asymptomatic screening testing, which previously they did not have the capacity to offer directly through the Student Health Center.

The HMH partnership is being funded through Walker County CARES Act funds and while this is reserved for those living in Walker County, the county has agreed to allow for all students to claim temporary residency for the ability to access this testing.

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