President's Monthly Update: November 2020 - COVID-19 Testing

November 2020

To the Rutgers Community,

At a time when personal interactions are so limited, it’s critical to keep in touch. I am committed to communicating with you on a regular basis to help keep us all connected. One of those means will be this monthly update, another way of checking in and letting you know about matters of broad interest and importance to you. This update will not replace any existing means of communication but will serve to complement the of-the-moment announcements that come from various Rutgers offices, including mine.

I begin with the timely issue of COVID-19 testing.

As the chancellors and I and other Rutgers leaders prepare for repopulating university campuses in consultation with health professionals, we will continue to emphasize the need to wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, and maintain social distancing. In making these preparations, the university recognizes the essential role that testing must play in keeping us safe. Testing does not protect the person who is being tested—but if we continue to test regularly, we can significantly reduce the likelihood of accidentally infecting other people in our community.

For spring semester, although many will be learning and working remotely, we will require that all students and employees who are regularly scheduled to be physically present on campus undergo COVID-19 virus testing once a week. You will hear more details in regard to these requirements in the weeks to come.

We will also implement rapid antigen testing as soon as it becomes available and can be incorporated appropriately. A regular and rigorous testing regimen will enable us to safely expand the number of people and activities on our campuses and help us move closer to a more conventional, in-person Rutgers experience for our students, faculty, and staff.

A word about vaccines. We have all seen the very encouraging news about the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine now in clinical trials; indeed, Rutgers is actively involved in testing multiple vaccines and in planning with the state health department for their distribution. The university will be following those developments very closely in the coming weeks and months. While I do not anticipate any impact on our plans for the spring semester, we are eager to have those vaccines available as soon as possible—especially for our heroic front-line health care workers.

For the most up-to-date information on our testing protocol, visit the Rutgers coronavirus website.

Be safe and be well,

Jonathan Holloway
President and University Professor