Beginning on the week of Feb. 2, the Hilltop continued their efforts to maximize campus health and safety by instituting weekly surveillance testing. These saliva-based tests, once again done through Vault Laboratories, are mandatory and will survey 10 present of the student population every week. The tests will be administered, once again, in Blatnik Hall gym from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday; students being tested will need to refrain from eating and drinking for thirty minutes prior to their test administration.

Students will report on specific dates throughout the semester, with the order being assigned alphabetically; students will be notified and reminded in advance to the approach of their testing date. Students will be required to bring their phone for test registration purposes and their student ID in order to receive the test. Any student who did not test on the mass testing initiative done by West Liberty from Jan. 19 to the 22 will be required to attend surveillance testing as soon as possible, whie students attending virtually or completely remote this semester will not be required to be tested. Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days will also not be required for testing but will need to follow additional and separate guidelines laid out by the university and state of West Virginia.

Cases continue to decline here on the Hilltop and greater West Liberty community, as well as the state of West Virginia. Hopefully, in companionship with some form of renewed vigor to fight off this disease once and for all, COVID-19 will soon be under control and we can all return to some form of normalcy. A college student can only dream of such lofty aspirations, but as long as we continue to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and safety procedures, and West Liberty University and her home state of West Virginia keep striving to make our population safer, healthier, and more secure… the dream doesn’t seem so fantastical after all.