As the spring semester approaches in Chapel Hill, UNC is sharing information on what COVID-19 testing requirements students must meet before returning to campus.

On its Carolina Together website, the university shared Prior to Arrival testing protocols for all undergraduate students enrolled for classes who will either live on campus, live in the surrounding towns, use campus facilities or participate in on-campus activities. Meant to track and prevent the spread of COVID-19 among the campus community, the new requirements will need to be completed before students take another required test upon their arrival.

According to UNC, undergraduate students must submit results for a negative COVID-19 antigen test or a negative PCR test taken within five days prior to returning to the area. The process will be part of the students’ registration for classes and acknowledgement of COVID-19 Community Standards on ConnectCarolina. For students who tested positive for COVID-19 between October 1 and January 1, proof of the positive test and clearance from a health care professional are required to return to campus.

The university says any students whose tests come back positive from this Prior to Arrival period must remain at their permanent addresses and isolate. Campus Health will then contact such students with further instructions to return to campus later in the semester. Anyone who tests positive will also be expected to participate in regular asymptomatic evaluation for 90 days after the initial test result.

Graduate and professional students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty and staff will not be required to meet such COVID-19 testing standards ahead of their return.

Once on campus or in the greater Chapel Hill community, UNC says students must take a rapid COVID-19 test at one of its Carolina Together Testing Centers or a temporary testing sites in a Campus Housing community. Using the HallPass web application, students will self-apply the test and then await its results, which will be returned within 48 hours.

University leadership announced significant changes to COVID-19 testing protocols in November, saying the measures are meant to prevent clusters of positive coronavirus cases seen during UNC’s brief in-person instruction period to begin the fall semester. Most courses will be taught with some element of remote instruction, while an estimated 3,500 students will live in residence halls.

With classes set to begin on Tuesday, January 19, coronavirus trends in North Carolina continue to worsen. UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz previously said the university is monitoring COVID-19 cases nationally and in the state, and any changes to campus operations for the spring semester will be announced by Saturday, January 9.

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