BLOOMINGTON – As thousands of students return to the Bloomington Indiana University campus to begin classes on Monday, August 22 for the fall semester classes.

IU officials are preparing for another school year of navigating COVID, according to Dr. Aaron Carroll, IU’s chief medical officer. He is optimistic the upcoming fall semester to be close to “normal” considering the global pandemic.  

IU is still requiring COVID vaccinations for students and staff but is no longer performing weekly tests. Instead, the university will make free testing accessible at three locations on the campus.

Drop-off COVID-19 testing allows you to collect your saliva sample at your convenience in any location and then drop it off on campus when it works for you. Drop-off testing can be used for both symptomatic and asymptomatic testing.

Learn how to use drop-off testing:

You’ll be notified via your IU email when your results are available. This is usually 36-72 hours after your sample was picked up from the collection site.

You can also view the results page in the testing system at any time to see your results.

vaccinations for students and staff but will no longer perform weekly testing. Instead, the university is trying to make testing as accessible and omnipresent as possible: there will be three locations on campus providing free COVID tests (including a 24/7 operation and the Student Health Center), and the university will stock vending machines around campus with free rapid antigen tests.  

Students and staff are encouraged to stay home if they feel sick.

Students will still need to go through a pre-approval process to hold events; however, Carroll said there won’t be limits on event sizes – the pre-approval process is to keep track of what events are happening where in case of an outbreak.  

If an on-campus student tests positive for COVID, they will still need to leave their residence for the university’s “isolation housing,” where meals will be provided for five days. That lines up with isolation guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to Dr. Carroll, the university’s policies could change and become stricter if new COVID variants prove to be more dangerous. 

Dr. Carroll said university officials were also discussing the best ways to handle cases of monkeypox if found on campus. 

There are 77 confirmed cases in Indiana, but there is none in Monroe County. 

The university’s monkeypox response will adapt to changes in federal and state policy. Currently, the only way to test for the virus is with a doctor. 

If someone tests positive for monkeypox, the university will work with that person and the State Department of Health to identify close contacts and provide the appropriate post-exposure treatment. 

The isolation time for monkeypox is much longer than COVID – from two to four weeks. Dr. Carroll said the university will ask students to return home to isolate themselves if possible.  

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