SUNY students required to take COVID test before Thanksgiving break, remote classes for rest of semester

ALBANY — State University of New York students will have to test negative for coronavirus before heading home for Thanksgiving as the majority of campuses go remote for the remainder of the semester, SUNY officials announced Tuesday.

The testing policy will apply to all 140,000 students who are taking classes or working on one of the 64 SUNY campuses as well as those who frequent gyms, libraries or dining halls on school grounds.

Colleges will be required to isolate or quarantine any residential students who test positive for COVID-19 or is exposed to someone with the virus within 14 days of the Thanksgiving break.

SUNY previously announced it would wind down in-person learning toward the end of the semester.

“As in-person classes and instruction come to a close next month, tens of thousands of students will travel across the state and country to be with their families and complete their fall courses remotely,” said SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras. “By requiring all students to test negative before leaving, we are implementing a smart, sensible policy that protects students' families and hometown communities and drastically reduces the chances of COVID-19 community spread.”

Colleges and universities must submit a plan to test all of their on-campus students within that 10-day window no later than Nov. 5.

Several schools across the state have already shut down in-person classes following COVID-19 outbreaks. While most campuses endured two-week shutdowns following surges in cases, SUNY Oneonta went to all-remote learning on Sept. 3 after hundreds of students tested positive and five were suspended in connection to large parties.

However, numbers improved over the past month and a half with SUNY schools testing more than 270,000 students and maintaining a positivity rate of 0.52%.