Western Carolina University uses a COVID-19 dashboard to track current cases and tally the total number of COVID cases on campus. As of 10:31 a.m. Sept. 14, there are currently 2 new cases today, 9 new cases from the previous week, 7 students in quarantine in Madison and 57 self-isolating off campus. At a glance, reporting and tallying COVID cases would appear to be a straightforward process, but under a lens complications surface.
Upper Admin at WCU prepares PPE kits. Courtesy WCU.
There has been some confusion about where students are supposed to get tested if they are sick, and how sick they need to be to get tested. Some are concerned about how much it may cost to get a COVID test. Others do not know how to properly report a positive COVID test. This article will serve as a guide to help students navigate through the various procedures associated with getting sick on campus during a pandemic.
On-Campus Testing
In a nutshell, a student should seek testing if they have been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID or if they are experiencing any of the symptoms associated with COVID. Symptoms can be mild for some, but for others they could be severe.
The first step to getting tested is to call Health Services. This should be the first thing a student does regardless if they live on campus or off campus. From that point they will ask a series of questions before recommending a COVID test. They will confirm the student’s insurance provider at this time, but students that have been tested said that they don’t see where they were charged for the test.
Students will have a scheduled time to come into the Byrd building, or the big red tent outside of Byrd rather, and at that point students will be tested using the 20-minute test and the molecular test which takes a few days to get the results. On campus students will be put in quarantine in Madison until their molecular results comes back. Off campus students will be asked to self-isolate until their molecular test comes back. The reason they are given two tests is because the first test does not give false positives only false negatives. So, students who test positive from the quick test will be asked to return home, or they will be quarantined in Madison. A student will not be able to end self isolating or quarantining in Madison until they test negative for COVID using the molecular test.
For more information on testing on campus and how contact tracing works on campus please click here.
Off-Campus Testing
For a lot of different reasons students may seek COVID testing off campus. Many of the housing developments around the University have suggested to their tenets to get tested at places like Harris Urgent Care by the Walmart in Sylva. Sometimes students can’t schedule an appointment with Health Services as quick as they need, so they may elect to seek care elsewhere. Additionally, some students like Jacob Gash do not know how to get tested or where to go, and are confused if they are even allowed to go to Health Services if they live off campus.
For whatever reason that a student may seek care off campus, there are some additional complications that arise.
Depending upon where a student goes and what type of insurance they have, the pricing for COVID testing off campus will vary. Some testing centers are free, others range from anywhere between $35-$150. Typically, out of pocket cost will be less than $50. Additionally, whether or not a student needs to call ahead to test also is dependent on the location they go to. To learn more about testing centers in Jackson county click here.
The benefit that some students have found in testing off campus is that they are instructed to self-isolate rather than to be quarantined in Madison. Learning this led WCJ to look deeper into the disconnect between WCU and off-campus health care providers.
WCJ reached out to Deputy Health Director of the Jackson County Department of Public Health, Melissa McKnight. WCJ directly asked if health care providers have been instructed to report positive cases of WCU students to the university. In response she provided this statement:
“Since WCU students will likely live in our community for an extended period of time, we consider them
Mellissa McKnight, Deputy Health Director.
full-time residents. To make sure that they are accounted for in our COVID-19 Data Dashboard, we ask that they give their local address to their healthcare provider when they get tested. Positive students will be reported to whatever address they gave their healthcare provider when they get tested. If they give a Jackson County address, it will immediately come to the Jackson Co Department of Public Health. If they gave their parent’s address, it would go to the health department where their parents live. However, each health department does something called case investigation where they call positive cases to seek additional information (like “Where are you residing right now?”) At that point, if the health department staff member finds out that the student is actually in Jackson County, they will forward the case to us. We will be able to include the positive student in our case count then.
Additionally, we reached out to our local healthcare providers prior to WCU starting again to ask them to confirm the local, physical address of those that they test so that we are able to receive information quicker and with greater ease.”
The larger paragraph is a direct quote from JCDPH’s website in the frequently asked questions section. But, what it essentially means is that students tested off-campus should be accurately counted in the Jackson County COVID dashboard if both health departments follow up on the case and properly follow procedures. When WCJ asked the receptionist at Harris Urgent Care if they ask if the patient is a student when they receive care, she said usually they don’t. This means that even if the case was followed up by the Health Department of the student’s hometown there is little chance this information will make its way back to the university.
There are only three ways that cases will be reported on the university’s COVID dashboard. The first is if the student was treated by health services. The second is if one of the student’s professor files paperwork that basically means they are concerned for the student’s health. At that point the university will reach out to the student. For all other cases students must self-report.
Vice Chancellor Kellie Monteith. Courtesy WCU.
“Students who test off campus are highly encouraged to utilize the COVID self-reporting tool available on MyWCU or at info.wcu.edu/selfreport. By completing the self-reporting tool, staff in Health Services will follow up with students directly,” said Associate Vice Chancellor, Kellie Monteith.
Self-reporting sounds like a simple solution. However, the university hasn’t exactly flooded the school with information.
“I don’t think I’ve received any information about testing or reporting,” WCU senior Ron Cantrell said.
In a small survey of students living off campus, 19 out of 21 students admitted they did not know how to report a positive COVID test.
Clearly there has been some gap in communication between WCU Administrators and the student body.
“Students received the attached flyer in their PPE packets when they arrived on campus. However, additional information can be found by clicking the various information boxes from the Fall 2020 Operations and Procedures pages off our main website,” Monteith said.
The students we surveyed were asked if they still had the flyer from when they arrived on campus and all 21 students said no.
Click below to see the flyer.
20-1804 PPE Insert Patient Guidance
To the university’s credit, there is enough information available to students who are seeking out how to do things like self-report. However, if students do not look, or rather do not know to look, then they will remain in the dark. Considering the later, it’s worth noting that in the 10-minutes WCJ spent at Harris Urgent care, four college aged kids came in asking for COVID tests. One can only wonder if they know how to self-report.
