Monday was the first day Texas A&M employees returning to work from the holiday break could be tested and complete online pandemic training and certification.
January 12 is the deadline for all A&M employees…full time and part time…faculty, staff, and students.
On the first day, a statement from the A&M president’s office in response to a request from WTAW News there was “a good pace of testing”.
The statement added “The mandatory requirement for employees and on-campus students to test allows us to more quickly isolate and reduce spread of the virus by ensuring that those who may not know they have the virus, quarantine.”
And the statement thanked Aggie volunteers who are assisting in the testing process that does not involve contact with samples. On Tuesday, A&M’s school of public health tweeted that volunteers are still needed at test sites for multiple jobs that includes directing cars at drive-thru locations.
Statement from the Texas A&M president’s office to WTAW News, January 4 2020:
Emails and reminders have gone out to all Texas A&M employees and on campus students over the holiday break in preparation for returning for the Spring semester that begins today for employees. We’re pleased to see the call for Aggie volunteers answered for a variety of needs that do not require any contact with samples. The mandatory requirement for employees and on-campus students to test allows us to more quickly isolate and reduce spread of the virus by ensuring that those who may not know they have the virus, quarantine. After each holiday and break we have experienced a subsequent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases as we are certainly seeing across the nation. While it has been communicated that failure to comply may result in disciplinary action, we are seeing a good pace of testing on day one as Aggies understand the rationale, especially in light of state and national continued high levels of outbreak.