The struggles of this spring semester have left NC State students with little or no time to spare. Students are barely able to find time to eat three meals a day, let alone walk to far-off locations for COVID-19 testing. The University’s COVID-19 surveillance program requires certain students to take required weekly COVID-19 tests at one of the many testing locations at NC State. These locations include Clark Dining Hall, Witherspoon Student Center, Centennial Textiles C-Store and more.
Up until Feb. 22, the Dan Allen Parking Deck was also a testing location available for students. Many students living in residence halls used this location to fulfill their weekly COVID-19 testing requirements. The closure of this testing location creates an increased inconvenience to many students on campus, forcing them to go to Witherspoon Student Center or locations much farther away from them, such as Clark Dining Hall. Many students living in residence halls like Lee, Sullivan or the Tri-Towers chose to test at Dan Allen or Witherspoon over Clark as they were both much more conveniently located.
Students living in off-campus apartments such as Valentine Commons, Stanhope Student Apartments and UNCOMMON Raleigh were also able to conveniently drive up and get their COVID-19 tests done at Dan Allen Park Deck. Now, not only do these students no longer have a drive-up option, but they also must walk to locations on campus (such as Witherspoon Student Center and Clark Dining Hall) and increase their interactions with others. Many students chose to live in off-campus apartments on Hillsborough Street out of caution and to limit their interactions with potential COVID-19 outbreaks on campus. Closing the most convenient drive-up option forces these students to drive to locations much farther away or interact with students on campus to complete their COVID-19 tests.
Closing the Dan Allen testing site also raises concerns of overcrowding within other testing locations — mainly Witherspoon Student Center, as this is now the closest option for students living on west and central campus or on Hillsborough Street. Closing Dan Allen’s testing site forces more students to interact with each other in Witherspoon and other locations, increasing the potential spread of the virus.
Although the University schedules residence halls to test on separate days, these efforts are undermined if there is only one conveniently available testing site for students. It is just counterintuitive to NC State’s measures to contain COVID-19.
In place of Dan Allen’s testing site, new testing locations have been opened on the College of Veterinary Medicine’s campus and the Centennial Campus’ Textiles C-Store. While it is important to have testing on these campuses, locations shouldn’t be taken away from main campus to accommodate them elsewhere. Dan Allen is a convenient and quick option for many students, and taking it away to create locations on a completely different location is unfair to those living in residence halls and on Hillsborough Street.
The University must prioritize opening safe and convenient testing facilities that accommodate the needs of all their students. They cannot expect students to abide by weekly testing protocols if they aren’t providing their students with convenient testing locations. The Dan Allen testing location provided convenience to not only students living on campus but also those living off campus. Closing this testing facility is just far too inconvenient for NC State students.
