University of New Hampshire to mandate COVID-19 testing
(The Center Square) – The University of New Hampshire says that it will require COVID-19 testing for all students and staff this fall, regardless of vaccination status.
While university officials are promising a relatively normal school year, free of social distancing rules and mask requirements, they said regular testing will be mandatory.
UNH President James W. Dean Jr. said in a video message that the university “wants to provide the best experience possible for our students with as few restrictions as possible” but said testing will be required “in light of the uptick in cases around the country, reports of fully vaccinated people testing positive, and the more contagious Delta variant.”
Under the program, students and staff must get tested as they arrive for the fall semester, which begins in a few weeks. Regular testing will continue through for at least two months.
Students who haven’t been vaccinated or don’t report their status must get tested twice weekly, under the new policy. Unvaccinated university staff and workers will get tested once a week.
Students and staff who are fully vaccinated will get tested every other week, the university said.
UNH will be regularly testing wastewater from its campuses to determine if COVID-19 levels are rising.
“Infection rates may trigger additional testing as needed or adjustments to protocols, such as mandatory mask wearing in classrooms or indoors,” Dean said.
Still, the university can’t require students or staff to get vaccinated for COVID-19 under a new state law that prevents state-funded entities from setting vaccine mandates.
The “medical freedom” law, signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, states that people have the “natural, essential and inherent right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion by government to accept an immunization.”
Supporters of the new law argue that the government – including public schools and colleges – shouldn’t be mandating the vaccines. Critics said the restrictions will compromise the state’s public health response to the virus as vaccination rates in the state drop and COVID-19 mutations spread among the unvaccinated.
Dean said UNH will not require masks, or physical distancing, and there will be no limits on gathering, indoors or outdoors in the upcoming school year.
More than 16,000 students from nearly every state and 71 countries attend the university’s sprawling campus system, according to UNH.
Dean acknowledged the state’s ban on vaccine mandates in his message, but urged students to get their shots “for the health, safety and, yes, even the lives of our community.”
“Being fully vaccinated will greatly decrease your chances of becoming infected with the COVID-19 virus or transmitting it to your family, friends or others with whom you have close contact,” he said.
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