Western Illinois University has obtained COVID-19 test kits (saliva test), and will be distributing the test kits this weekend to students living on campus.
Test kits for faculty, staff and commuter students are expected to be distributed and registered on the Macomb and Moline campuses beginning Tuesday, Aug. 25. Commuter students, faculty and staff on the Macomb campus will receive test kits beginning at 9 a.m. Aug. 25 at the metered parking lot at the northeast corner of the University Union. Quad Cities students, faculty and staff will receive test kits at the Riverfront Hall east entrance beginning at 1 p.m. Aug. 25.
The University will continue distributing test kits Wednesday-Thursday, Aug. 26-27. The completed saliva collection tests will be overnighted to a lab in Kansas, with results anticipated within 24 hours.
Individuals who test positive will be immediately notified and must isolate for 14 days. WIU-Macomb has facilities set up to ensure comfortable and safe accommodations for those who must isolate. Faculty, staff and commuter students on both campuses who test positive must isolate at home for 14 days.
Test kit distribution and collection, which will be conducted by Beu Health Center staff and trained volunteers, will continue to take place weekly for a random sampling of the WIU population throughout the fall semester.
In addition, Facilities Management has obtained 350 HEPA air purifiers, which are expected to arrive Aug. 26. These units will be distributed to classrooms immediately upon arrival, and will be set up according to classroom size and capacity.
Beginning Monday, Aug. 24, members of the Western Illinois University community will be required to answer COVID-related questions and take their temperature through an online self-checker before coming to campus and/or leaving their residence hall each day. Students residing in the residence halls who do not have a thermometer can have their temperature taken at their respective hall information desk to satisfy this requirement of the form. This self-evaluation provides a more thorough assessment of health monitoring than does the temperature check stations on campus, which will be discontinued. Employees who work evening or weekend hours will no longer need supervisors to call into the Office of Public Safety (OPS) before arriving on campus.
All employees and students must complete the questionnaire at wiu.edu/selfcheck/. Completion of the self-checker will be required each day (including weekends) that an individual will be on campus property. In support of medical records requirements, medical data will not be stored. Compliance will be monitored and individuals failing to complete the self-evaluation will be notified.
Individuals who do not have access to complete the self-checker before arriving on-campus can do so at a kiosk station located at the Office of Public Safety (OPS Mowbray Hall). Visitor’s/guests/contractors will be required to fill out the self-checker before coming to campus. Delivery personnel (i.e. mail, parcel, food delivery) will not be subject to the self-check process.
Sodexo Food Service Employees who are not students will continue with their assessment process and will not need to do the self-checker. Food Service Employees who are registered students of WIU will be directed to do WIU self-checker.
If information is received indicating that a student may have been exposed or has symptoms related to COVID-19, they will be contacted by a member of the Beu Health Center or Student Development and Success Center for follow-up and consultation. Faculty and staff will be directed to their health care provider for further guidance.
A dashboard will also be available in the near future at wiu.edu/coronavirus to keep the University community apprised of positive cases on the WIU campuses. For more information and updates, visit wiu.edu/coronavirus.
***Report Courtesy of Western Illinois University***
