NY College Students to Remain on Campus Until Testing Negative for COVID

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, American lawmakers and officials have taken wildly disparate approaches to preventing the spread of the virus, some of which have been routinely lambasted by those who believe that our freedoms are being sacrificed through these efforts.

New York State has already come under fire on several occasions due to their incredibly strict COVID-19 restrictions, and the latest news from the Empire State certainly won’t dull those criticisms. 

140,000 students in the State University of New York (SUNY) system will be required to test negative for coronavirus before they leave campus for Thanksgiving break. Students will self-administer a saliva swab diagnostic test as part of the university’s efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus.

According to a report by ABC News, about 140,000 students enrolled in the SUNY system will be required to test negative for coronavirus before they are permitted to return home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In a statement to ABC News, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said that the policy was adopted to ensure that students don’t spread the virus to their families. Many students won’t return to campus until January as the university system plans to hold its winter session remotely.

“The health experts said you need to wind down your semester after Thanksgiving break and then go all remote because you don’t want people traveling back and forth in the cold months,” SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras said. “We don’t want to send our students home, possibly infected.”

In neighboring Pennsylvania, state officials have also taken extreme steps in an attempt to combat the virus, ordering bars and restaurants to cease sales of alcohol at 5pm on Thanksgiving eve – one of the most profitable days of the year in the restaurant industry.