As of September 1, University Health Services has successfully completed 20,028 COVID-19 tests, including 8,632 tests of BC undergraduates, with 13 members of the BC community testing positive, including 11 undergraduates. All individuals who tested positive were immediately isolated. Of the 11 positive cases among undergraduate students, five are in University isolation housing and six are isolating at their homes.
Cumulative and weekly test totals are posted each morning on the Reopening BC website bc.edu/reopen.
Weekly asymptomatic surveillance testing began today and will continue throughout the semester, with an average of 1,500 tests to be conducted per week. The tests will be administered in the MAC courts in the Margot Connell Recreation Center Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Community members will be alerted by email to come in for the surveillance testing.
Boston College's Information Technology Services has created an app called the BC Community Daily Self-Health Check Tool, to enable community members to conduct daily symptoms monitoring to prevent the spread of the virus. Called BC✅, the tool asks students, faculty, and staff who are on campus this semester to go to bc.edu/check each morning and login with their Agora Portal username and password. They are asked to review and answer six symptoms-related questions by checking yes or no, before checking the Complete Self-Assessment button. Individuals will then be presented with a Cleared or Not Cleared response.
Cleared for Access Today
NOT Cleared for Access Today
Students, staff, and faculty may be asked to show the "Cleared" screen to enter a range of sites on campus, including dining halls, the Margot Connell Recreation Center, and O'Neill Library.
Anyone needing assistance in downloading the tool can call the BC Help Center at 617-552-4357 (HELP).
“As of last night, we have successfully processed 20,000 tests, with most individuals being notified of their results within 6 to 26 hours of their test reaching The Broad Institute lab,” said Director of University Health Services Dr. Douglas Comeau. “We are very pleased with the testing procedure and the very low rate of positive test results. It has been a great team effort.”
University Communications | September 2020