Florida State University announced this morning that it plans to begin random COVID-19 testing of students, faculty, and staff. Students who do not comply could face penalties including student conduct charges.
The announcement comes after a spike in COVID cases both in Leon County and at FSU. As of today, Leon County’s positivity rate is hovering above 9%, and FSU has had 123 students and six employees test positive, a 1.57% positivity rate.
FSU’s random testing program will target students, faculty, and staff who are physically present on campus. It also includes students who live in off-campus housing.
“The University’s goal is to test at least 5-10% of those who are on campus daily based on the average from the prior week,” according to the announcement “Testing of faculty and staff is job-related and consistent with business necessity.”
The random testing program is scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 14. Each week, individuals selected to participate will be notified on Sunday by email and a myFSU notification. They will be asked to schedule a testing appointment at the Tucker Civic Center by Tuesday, and the test must be complete by Friday.
FSU staff identified three groups of people to target. The first group is undergraduate students living off-campus.
According to the announcement, “The off-campus community is one of the largest sources of concern and the furthest from the influence of the university. These students participate in classes, have access to the libraries, gyms, in-person events, etc.”
The second group is students in university residence halls. Students living in residence halls were required to get tested during the move-in process as part of their housing contract.
The third group is graduate students, faculty, and staff who are participating in on-campus activities like classes.
Another group may be created for “high-activity” individuals—people who have multiple in-person classes or a high number of FSU card swipes. This group could also include students who participate in Greek life.
The university plans to penalize students who do not comply with the random testing program.
“Students who do not comply with the testing invitation may have swipe card access revoked, face student conduct charges, and may continue classes via remote learning,” according to the announcement.
Once getting tested, individuals will also be required to cooperate with contact tracing through FSU’s Secure Assessment for FSU Exposure Response (SAFER) team.
FSU to Begin Random COVID-19 Testing for Students, Faculty, and Staff added by Lexie Pitzen on
View all posts by Lexie Pitzen →
They never did much care for the 4th amendment, the 2nd amendment, the 23rd (& 24th) article of Florida constitution, the federal privacy act of 1974, FERPA, electronic communications privacy act, the Orwellian HIPAA (which alleges to protect medical/health care info privacy but does not)…. just tooo inconvenient for their purposes.
What is outrageous is their unrepentant power-madness.
I agree with “Lena” on one thing, though. People are dying from ignorance, stupidity, and power-madness.
We just disagree about which people are more or less power-mad, stupid, & ignorant. Masks probably help a little, but not much. It’s the difference between virus particles shooting out 15 feet from a sneeze vs. forming a cloud within a couple feet of where the person who sneezed was at that instant, & they mostly blast out around the mask rather than through. Then again, the frequency of sneezing is probably much higher in moldy, humid Tallyburg than, say Cleveland. OTOH, the Tallyhassle UV renders them inert much more quickly. The virus particles remain infectious for a week on the mask, up to 3 days on paper, stainless steel, & plastic IN THE SHADE. Or thus sayeth the medical journals.
Crank up your FirstPage, DuckDuckGo… foo.?? How many Wuhan particles would fit in a single layer under your thumb? How many are required to deliver a disease-inducing load?
Today Xi jinping awarded medals to individuals for their bravery in the fight against COVID. There were 10 new cases in China today……Donald Trump whined about Joe Biden being stupid.
“As of today, Leon County’s positivity rate is hovering above 9%, and FSU has had 123 students and six employees test positive, a 1.57% positivity rate.”
This information needs to be corrected. FSU has had 123 students AS OF AUGUST 30 https://stayhealthy.fsu.edu/ and has not updated the numbers since. Considering the current spike in Leon County, there is no doubt that the number is much higher now.
Masks work.
That’s why when you go to a medical facility, the doctors and nurses wear them. Duh.
We are not just dying from the virus.
We are dying from “stupid,” egged on by those who think they can score a few cheap votes from it.
Remote learning would have helped to reduce this OUTBREAK. Don’t be fooled, it’s ALL about the money, NOT the rona.
Great! Glad they are taking care of business to keep everyone safer.
As an FSU student, I see students not wearing masks when they should, so no, I don’t feel that my rights have been violated. The staff are looking out for the students’ and faculties’ best interest. If more people would actually wear a mask and not gather in masses, this random testing wouldn’t be a thing. It’s not outrageous. What’s outrageous is the carelessness of the students who refuse to comply with university guidelines 🙂
Wearing a mask to prevent against a viral infection, is like wearing a t-shirt to prevent against a bullet wound. Wear one if it makes you fell better, but don’t expect miracles, and stop pretending it matters.
Make that “feel” better…
wctv.tv just reported the Grand Jury released a cops inocent verdict just in time for the 3 day riots to begin.
Stay away from downtown and if you have to drive watch for jammed up traffic far ahead. Turn around and go back where you came from.
Avoid the southside campus and shopping centers.
FSU must not have reviewed the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, how can this not be labeled ‘unreasonable search and seizure’? Don’t think an up tick in Covid warrants probable cause.
I take it the folks over at FSU are not familiar with a little thing known as the Constitution of the United States of America… oh, or HIPAA?
Please tell me what this has to do with HIPAA. HIPAA is totally unrelated to this. Do some research 🙂
Totally outrageous!