Dear COVID-19 Routine Testing Graduate and Medical Student Participants,

I am writing to provide information and guidance to students regarding the COVID-19 Routine Testing program for the period from Thanksgiving break through early January. This is a time period when —  in conjunction with the recent return to Level 1 status, the remote reading and exam periods from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, and the end of the fall term — the on-campus population will significantly decrease. However, the testing centers will remain operational during this time, and all community members who remain on campus and in Providence will be required to continue to get tested according to their assigned frequency.

Graduate and medical students must maintain their current frequency of COVID-19 testing for as long as they are either using campus facilities or interacting in-person with other members of the Brown community. Accordingly:

• Graduate and medical students who are leaving Providence completely during this time period will be paused from the routine testing program effective on their departure date.
• Graduate and medical students remaining in Providence and continuing to use campus facilities or interacting in-person with other members of the Brown community are required to continue to get tested according to their assigned frequency. This includes students living in residence halls and off campus.

Special Considerations for Thanksgiving Break:

• Students who remain in Providence over the Thanksgiving Break must continue to get tested according to their assigned frequency.
• See here for detailed hours of operation of the testing centers for the week of Nov. 23. Note that the OMAC testing center will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 27-29.

Special Considerations for Winter Break:

• Students who are either using campus facilities or interacting in-person with other members of the Brown community over the Winter Break must continue to get tested according to their assigned frequency.
• See here for detailed hours of operation of the testing centers during Winter Break (Dec. 21 to Jan. 1). The OMAC testing center will be open for reduced hours during Winter Break, except for Dec. 24, 25 and 31 and Jan. 1 (closed for those four days).

Both the OMAC and One Davol testing centers will open at their regularly scheduled times on Monday, Jan. 4, when Brown reopens after Winter Break.

With regard to personal travel during the holidays, please keep in mind that the University continues to highly discourage all non-essential personal travel to international and domestic destinations. All graduate and medical students should heed the holiday safety guidance from the State of Rhode Island. Brown follows the guidelines for COVID-19 travel restrictions set forth by the Rhode Island Department of Health regarding return to Rhode Island from international and domestic travel. Individuals returning from states with a community spread rate of higher than 5% as set forth on a list maintained by RIDOH must immediately self-quarantine for 14 days or until they receive a negative COVID-19 test. Graduate and medical students returning from traveling within the United States who would like to test out of the 14 day quarantine requirement can schedule a test through portal.ri.gov. Please refer to this website for any applicable exceptions, and note that Brown University COVID-19 testing locations cannot be used to test out of quarantine for personal travel.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. For questions or support regarding the testing program, students can contact the student testing support team (401-863-6500 or studenttesting@brown.edu). 

I want to again thank all of you for your diligence in participating in the testing program, and also thank the many colleagues who are working hard every day to support the program for students, faculty and staff.  

Sincerely,

Russell C. Carey
Executive Vice President, Planning and Policy