As COVID-19 numbers continue to climb in Indiana and around the country, testing becomes that much more important. At Indiana University, they’re trying to mitigate the virus across campus by conducting mitigation testing.

According to Indiana University spokesperson Chuck Carney, the testing is designed to test higher risk populations more often. That means that if someone in a dorm tested positive for coronavirus, it is likely that the others on their floor, and possibly others in the dorm, will be selected for mitigation testing. Indiana hopes to do this so that they can stay ahead of any potential outbreaks.

“The truth of the matter is it’s not an entirely random system,” Carney said. “We’re not drawing names out of hat or something like that.”

This all makes sense, but some students are still worried or upset that they have either been tested too much or not enough. The system focuses mainly on on-campus students, those who either live on campus or work on campus. That leaves out a large percentage of students who live in the surrounding areas.

Senior Tori Touscany has yet to be tested. She lives just off of campus, but all of her roommates have been selected at some point in the semester, and this worries her a little bit.

“I understand that the rest of my roommates have been selected and they’ve all been negative,” Touscany said. “So maybe they assume because the people I’m living with, but I don’t even know if they know the people I’m living with since I’m off campus.”

While Touscany is worried about not being tested at all, many find themselves on the other side of the spectrum, annoyed that they’ve been tested too much. Senior Josie Caccamo works at the Briscoe Center Desk and lives in Union Street Apartments on campus and has been tested every week except for one.

She believes that the RAs (who she works with at Briscoe) are some of the safest people on campus, so they shouldn’t need to be tested every week. She believes there are others that may need to be tested more than them.

“I think it should be more random and include more people off campus,” Caccamo said.

That’s the issue Indiana University is running into. They have to keep the people on campus safe because they live in communal residence halls, sharing living spaces, bathrooms, elevators, etc. But they also have to keep track of the off-campus students who may have a few in-person classes and could infect others.

Indiana University is hopeful that with the new lab located in Bloomington, they can get test results quicker, allowing them to test more students and faculty. Up until the past week or two, numbers have been relatively low for the University, and that’s something Carney attributes to the rigorous testing.

“Everybody is going to be tested even more,” Carney said. “That should be looked upon as just what we need to do keep everybody healthy, and that’s a good thing.”

Indiana University did open up on-campus testing to all students before they leave for home, regardless of where they live or if they have in-person classes or not. This is something that was important to Touscany, who was worried about never being tested, unknowingly having the virus, and taking it home to her family over break.

This doesn’t solve everything, and with the numbers spiking again, we will likely be back in the same situation when, or if, students return in February. Students are looking for more transparency going forward.

“I haven’t heard from them,” Touscany said. “As an off-campus senior, I’m just wondering why they’re picking who they are. If it is random, if it’s not random, I just wish they would be more transparent with that.”