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Indiana colleges adjust COVID-19 testing for students amid concern over draining state supplies

Days ago Indiana's Health Commission Dr. Kris Box said a spike in cases has created a strain on supply and demand.

INDIANAPOLIS — Some of Indiana's top colleges are just five weeks from in-person classes.

13 Investigates reveals some major changes in requirements for pre-COVID-19 testing.

Days ago our team started asking questions about Indiana's shortage of testing supplies. Those growing concerns have schools taking new routes for a safe start.

Indiana University, Purdue and Butler all planned a defensive strike against COVID-19 by requiring all students to test for the virus before arriving on campus.

The schools' combined enrollments could have meant nearly 90,000 COVID-19 tests flooding Indiana's system, which is already struggling to keep up.

"We want to ensure we're keeping students healthy and safe and that's the number one priority," said Chuck Carney, IU director of Media Relations.

But days ago, Indiana's health commissioner revealed a shortage in testing supplies for the state. Dr. Kris Box said the spike in positive cases in states like Florida and Georgia are taking a toll on supply and demand.

"(It) has impacted our ability to get supplies," Dr. Box said. "It has also increased the wait times for our lab results in many cases." 

While Dr. Box and Governor Holcomb publicly praised state colleges for aggressive plans, sources with knowledge of the discussions involving colleges revealed growing angst behind the scenes. 

13 Investigates learned health officials were caught off guard by the mandates for asymptomatic testing. 
 
In a statement to 13 News, the Indiana State Department of Health responded to questions about the commissioner's concerns.

"ISDH has not recommended mass testing of asymptomatic individuals when there is no evidence of exposure because it is a snapshot in time," the statement said. "A negative test result today does not mean that individual will not test positive tomorrow." 

Both IU and Purdue are now announcing new testing plans.

Purdue is taking a bold move and partnering with Rutgers University and Vault Health to provide "at home" saliva testing for students. Each test costs $150.

Rutgers has the first lab to get Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA for saliva testing.

In coming weeks, Purdue students will get testing packages in the mail.  They'll be instructed to follow an online tutorial for collecting the sample before shipping it back. 

Test results are expected within 72 hours of the samples being received at the lab.

According to Purdue, the entire process will be handled out of state with no bearing on Indiana supplies. 

"This will enable us to intercept a substantial number of people who have the virus before they ever arrive in West Lafayette," said Dr. Esteban Ramirez, chief medical officer with the Protect Purdue Health Center. "This approach also allows us to start the academic year by knowing what our baseline of infection is for students coming back to campus." 

At IU Bloomington, testing mandates are getting adjusted.

"We did pare that back," said Carney, referring to the "all-student" mandate.  "We had heard the concerns from those at the state level and others who were concerned about the numbers of the tests, and of course there's been concern about the turn around time of tests in the state of Indiana." 

The new policy now will only require students living in campus housing or Greek houses to get tested 10 days before arriving.

"A lot of our students are coming from out of state, so it wouldn't necessarily be a strain all on the Indiana system, they could get this test wherever they are," Carney said. 

But IU is leaning towards more testing before classes start. Carney called it all an evolving situation, including the cost of the testing.

"We expect to take an additional step of testing students on arrival to campus," he said. "So that is something that may happen as well. The details on that are still being worked out." 

Meanwhile Butler is still requiring its students to get tested seven days before returning to campus.  Students will also be required to complete a one time health screening 48 hours prior to their move in or first day on campus.

 

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