The College will shift toward take-home rapid antigen tests for tracking the spread of COVID-19, it announced in an email to campus on Thursday. Accordingly, the College will end take-home and in-person PCR testing after June 11, before ending in-person antigen testing after June 13.
According to the email, the changes are due to the “increasing importance” of take-home antigen testing as a method of quickly identifying and isolating the spread of COVID-19. Face masks and take-home rapid antigen tests will continue to be available to faculty, staff and students at select campus locations, including Alumni Gymnasium and the lower level of Class of 1953 Commons.
The College noted that the changes may cause anxiety for some community members, encouraging community members to “be respectful” of others, but stated that rapid antigen tests are the most effective method for controlling the spread of COVID-19 in the Dartmouth community.
According to the College COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated on May 24, there have been 163 reported active cases among undergraduate students, graduate students, professional students, faculty and staff members over the past week — a decrease from the 196 reported from the week before.
