To: The Wellesley College Community
From: Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer
Re: Testing Updates
Date: September 1, 2020

As we begin classes, we want to share an update on testing. The phased student move-in period is completed, with the last group of students from low incidence states moving into the residence halls on Friday, August 28. Nearly all students have been released from the state-required quarantine after receiving negative test results. Since August 17, we have completed a total of 3,900 asymptomatic tests, and have had one positive test result. Testing volume will continue to be high for the next two weeks until all students have completed 14 days on campus during which they are required to test every two to three days. Beginning the week of September 14, we will transition to regular weekly testing for students, faculty, and staff. If we experience a spike in positive cases at any time in the future, we will return to more frequent testing.

Many schools across the Commonwealth and New England have been ramping up testing during this time, and as a result the testing volume at the Broad Institute has expanded dramatically. This increase has led to slightly extended testing turnaround times. Compounding this situation is the fact that most schools, including Wellesley, are sending their samples to the Broad between 5 and 8 p.m. The Broad is adding nighttime capacity to address the increased demand and to reduce testing turnaround times.

Over the weekend, there was a technical issue at the lab that resulted in invalid tests for a small number of Wellesley students. The problem was identified quickly, and the impacted students were retested Sunday afternoon. Several students who did not have a prior, negative test stayed in quarantine, with meals delivered, until their results were returned Monday night. We regret that as a result of this testing issue, a few students missed the first day of in-person classes. Moving forward, we expect that results will be available after 8 p.m. the following day after testing.

Thank you for your patience and feedback as we continue to learn and find ways to optimize our own processes and procedures. We want to reiterate the importance of showing up for testing dates. Students who miss a testing date risk being returned to quarantine and not being able to attend in-person classes or use campus facilities until they are tested and receive a negative result.

We will continue to provide regular updates on our progress, and update Keeping Wellesley Healthy.