On the evening of Thursday, Nov. 18, Fordham Public Safety sent an email to the Fordham community detailing its post-Thanksgiving break testing policy. 

The university will now require all students, faculty and staff to test negative for COVID-19 upon returning to campus after the break, according to Marco Valera, the associate vice president of Fordham Public Safety. Valera cited rising COVID-19 infections rates around the country as the reason for the new policy. 

Students, faculty and staff must be tested between Monday, Nov. 29 and Friday, Dec. 10. People who do not obtain a test within this period “will not be able to access campus for the remainder of the calendar year,” wrote Valera. 

“Anyone not needing to return to campus between December 12 and December 31 will not need to avail themselves of this otherwise required testing,” Valera added. 

Valera also wrote that students should consider being tested about a week after coming into contact with a large crowd or after traveling back to campus after the break. “For example, if you attend indoor social gatherings on November 24 or 25, consider testing on November 29 or 30. Or if you travel on November 29 to return to Fordham, consider waiting until the week of December 6,” wrote Valera. 

The university will accept test results both from private healthcare facilities and on-campus testing locations. Tests must be “an FDA EUA authorized PCR saliva or nasal swab,” according to the email. The university will not accept antigen or antibody tests. Students and staff are not required to attend classes remotely while they await their test results.

On-campus testing occurs at the testing trailer inside A Lot (near O’Hare Hall) at the Rose Hill campus and McMahon Hall 2nd floor at the Lincoln Center campus. Students with COVID-19 symptoms should not get tested at these locations and should call University Health Services to schedule testing at an alternate location, said Valera. 

Valera also reminded the Fordham community that the university “will continue the fully on-ground operations of the semester after the break.” 

Valera said Fordham will likely require reentry testing for faculty, students and staff returning to campus for the spring semester. Details of that policy are not yet finalized.