YU Announces End to Weekly COVID-19 Testing Requirement
Yeshiva University will not host or require weekly COVID-19 testing for students in the 2022-23 academic year, YU’s COVID-19 response team announced in an email to students on Aug. 8.
The COVID Team, along with YU’s medical director, based the decision on infection rates, the relative mildness of the current strains and the low hospitalization rate for vaccinated individuals, Joe Bednarsh, YU’s associate dean of students, told The Commentator. Testing will not be offered for students who wish to get tested.
“We determined that we could still have a safe campus without the added mandatory requirement,” Bednarsh said. “We don’t expect to offer testing on campus this year and have no programs or schools where it is still a mandatory policy.”
YU’s COVID policies are under constant reevaluation and thus subject to change, the email added.
Some students were pleased with this development. “I think that it is kinda nice that testing is not around because I am no longer worried that my card will be turned off for accidentally missing a test,” said Alexander Siegman (YC ‘25). “However, I am also quite neutral to the idea of spending five minutes once a week to get a COVID test.”
Another student, Aharon Genuth (YC ‘23) agreed. “I am happy that we don't have to test anymore,” he said. “I sometimes forgot to test, which one time resulted in my ID being shut down. Thankfully, we have reached the point where COVID is manageable.”
This suspension has been part of a progression of YU’s testing and vaccination requirements since last year. At the beginning of the 2021–22 academic year, students were required to get tested twice a week, with the requirement eventually changing to once a week a month later. Testing was suspended shortly before the end of the spring semester.
YU’s booster mandate was previously suspended this August for most undergraduate and graduate students.
The COVID Team and YU’s medical director are also keeping a close eye on the monkeypox outbreak and the recently diagnosed polio case of a man in Rockland county.
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Photo Caption: Weekly COVID-19 testing will not be required this year
Photo Credit: Mika Baumeister — Unsplash
