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Message Sent To:All Faculty, All Staff, All Students
Message From:Message from the Wellness Center, Message from Facilities
Date Sent:Wednesday, January 6, 2021 09:00 AM CST

Your Guide to Campus Surveillance Testing

January 6, 2021

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

With spring semester right around the corner, we wanted to share additional details about Loyola University Chicago’s COVID-19 surveillance testing program. We’re thrilled to open our saliva-based testing sites officially on Monday, January 11! Behind the scenes, University leaders have been designing this program for months, with the full understanding that aggressive testing of asymptomatic populations is the clearest way to limit the spread of COVID-19 on our campuses. As always, your collective well-being is paramount.

Early on, we’ll ask for your cooperation and patience as we perfect our process and learn how best to test our full community efficiently. Though we may hit occasional bumps in the road, we'll absolutely reach our final destination quickly and safely—this should become simple and routine for all of us. If you plan to spend any time on Loyola’s campuses this spring, now would be a perfect time to consult this return-to-campus checklist, which outlines—step-by-step—how you should prepare for your first visit (whenever that visit may be).

Ahead of next week’s launch, here are some other key items to know:

  • Testing sites are located at:
    • Damen Student Center Room 244 (Sr. Jean Room) (Lake Shore Campus)
    • Mundelein Auditorium Room 140—east exterior entrance only (Lake Shore Campus)
    • Cuneo Center 120—Faculty Dining room (Health Sciences Campus)
    • Maguire Hall 160 (Water Tower Campus)

  • Unless announced otherwise, testing hours for all locations are:
    • Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
    • Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

  • Be sure to download the Loyola Mobile app, which now offers a Loyola Health function right at the top. Loyola Health is your one-stop shop for COVID-19 information—testing, our daily symptom tracker, positive test result reporting, building access status updates, and more.

  • You should also download the MyChart mobile app, which provides mobile access to MySHIELD for scheduling visits and viewing your test results. During initial setup, select "SHIELD Illinois" as your organization.
    • When scheduling an eventual appointment in MySHIELD (either in the MyChart app or via the MySHIELD website), select "Shield Loyola University – LSC, WTC, HSC" as the testing location. This is the valid site for all four testing locations.

  • If your schedule is flexible, we ask that Loyolans whose last name begins with A-K should submit for testing on Monday and/or Thursday. If your last name begins with L-Z, please try to submit for testing Tuesday and/or Friday. Doing so will help us manage flow and reduce both wait times and density at our sites. If your schedule does not align with the recommended days, please still test whenever you’re able.

  • Do not eat, smoke, brush your teeth, chew gum, apply denture adhesives, or use any tobacco products for at least 60 minutes before testing.

  • If you test positive for COVID-19, report your positive case over email to COVID-19report@LUC.edu or by calling 773-508-7707. When doing so, provide your name, Loyola ID, phone number, and your date of diagnosis/test. A Loyola contact tracer will quickly follow up with you. You should immediately begin your period of isolation, as well. You can find more specifics about Loyola’s positive diagnosis protocols here.
    • Students who test positive and live in the residence halls should isolate in their rooms; Covid Care Coordinators will be in contact to provide additional support.

We’re confident our testing program will allow us to provide a safe and enriching campus experience this spring. Should you have further questions, please consult Loyola’s On-Campus Testing site or email COVID-19testing@LUC.edu. We’re happy to help and excited to start this spring!

Yours in health and safety,

Joan Holden, DNP, APRN, ANP-BC
Health and Safety Officer, Management, Policy, and Command
Director, Wellness Center

Kana Henning
Associate Vice President for Facilities