COVID-19 Testing Information
University Health Services offers clinical COVID-19 testing for students and any faculty or staff who are coming to campus: this is high sensitivity testing, coupled with clinical support, for people with symptoms or who have had close contact with someone who has tested positive.
We are also doing regular surveillance testing for certain campus populations. The capacity for testing additional campus populations will continue to expand over the Fall semester. Prevention of infection and quarantine once exposed continue to be our main tools against this virus absent a vaccine.
Notes regarding testing for COVID-19*
*regardless of where it is done.
Testing is a useful tool in detecting cases, containing outbreaks, and informing the campus and community of current prevalence however it has several very important limitations:
- There is no utility to re-testing (“test of cure”) if you already tested positive within the past month: it won’t tell you when you can leave isolation (this is determined by the public health department based on timeline and symptoms, and a negative would not change anything since viral shedding can be intermittent and decreases over time), and another positive result does not necessarily mean you are still infectious (RNA from “dead” virus can be detected for weeks in some people).
- While we strive to test those who are contacts of confirmed cases, it is useless to test too soon (< 4 days after exposure) AND a negative test does not release you from the 14 day quarantine required by public health since you can become infectious later.
If You've Already been Tested
Note: If you have tested positive for COVID outside of UHS, we’re here to help. Please call University Health Services CONFIDENTIAL line at (510) 643-8227 to inform our clinical teams so they can offer you support.
Please see our guidance on:
