November 10 update from the Ready & Resilient Committee

Members of the Elon community,

A couple of important updates today from the Ready & Resilient Committee:

Dining Halls resume in-person dining this Wednesday, Nov. 11

Due to inclement weather and the current decrease in COVID-19 cases on campus, dining facilities will resume the in-person dining option starting with breakfast tomorrow morning, Wednesday, Nov. 11. Students must maintain physical distancing, eat only in small groups, and remove masks only for eating and drinking. Grab and go options will still be available.

Optional Thanksgiving pre-departure COVID-19 testing

Optional pre-departure testing will be available at no cost to students, staff and faculty. The appointment schedule for testing Monday, Nov. 16-Friday, Nov. 20 will be shared by tomorrow afternoon.

Please review the following, including the “Required Quarantine/Isolation” information, before making an appointment and consult the End of Semester Travel site.

• New testing process for optional pre-departure testing: In order to provide rapid results and prepare for a future shift to antigen testing this spring, we have secured the new Abbott BinaxNow test from the North Carolina Department of Health and Social Services and North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities for pre-departure testing.

• This test requires a different process (but still a non-invasive nasal swab): 
  • This is a point-of-care test, which delivers results in 20 minutes.
  • Participants must wait on-site for results; plan to be in Alumni Gym for 30-45 minutes.
  • Anyone with a positive test result will be required to immediately take a PCR test on-site and quarantine at least until those results are returned within 24-48 hours. This confirmation is done to avoid any chance of false positives results.
  • Negative results do not require confirmation via PCR test.
  • Participants will receive a copy of the test results.
• Required quarantine and isolation: Students, faculty and staff with a positive antigen test result, confirmed by a positive PCR test, will be required by the Health Department to isolate for 10 days. Close contacts of those with a positive test will also be required by the Health Department to quarantine for 14 days.
• Off-campus testing options: The following off-campus locations, not associated with Elon, also provide COVID-19 testing:
  • Cone Health drive-up testing locations (Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.)
    • Alamance County: Medical Mall at Alamance Regional, 1238 Huffman Mill Road, Burlington
  • FastMed Urgent Care – 336-506-1720 (Weekend testing available)
    • 104 Huffman Mill Rd, Burlington, NC 27215
  • Kernodle Clinic – 336-538-1234 (Weekend testing available)
    • 1234 Huffman Mill Rd, Burlington, NC 27215
  • Nextcare Urgent Care – 336-222-8888 (Weekend testing NOT available)
    • 1713 South Church Street, Burlington, NC 27215
  • Alamance County Health Department – 336-570-6459 (Weekend testing NOT available)
    • 319 N. Graham-Hopedale Rd. Burlington, NC 27217

Thank you,

Jeff Stein, Ready & Resilient Committee Chair

• Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
• Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
• MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
• John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
• Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
• Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
• Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
• Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
• Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
• Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
• Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
• Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
• Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
• Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
• Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education