UW System students and staff will be required to take COVID-19 tests during spring semester

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson announced Friday, Dec. 11, residential undergraduate students will be tested for COVID-19 at least once per week during the spring 2021 semester. In addition, all non-residential students, faculty, and staff will be tested at least once every two weeks.

According to a news release, the requirement will apply to all UW System universities except UW-Madison, which is developing its own testing program. Implementation of the testing plan will be individually managed by the universities.

“Frequent testing is critical to minimizing the spread of COVID-19,” Thompson said. “We have demonstrated at our universities, where the positivity rate has hovered around 3 percent for weeks, that routine testing is a difference maker. The UW System’s testing program has been pivotal toward ensuring a successful in-person fall semester, and we will do even more this spring given how well it has gone.”

Under the spring 2021 testing program, faculty and staff who are not working on campus will not need to be tested according to the program requirements.

The release says additional details of the testing program continue to be developed.