Voluntary, asymptomatic, free COVID-19 testing is available on-campus for WSU employees until Nov. 20 without need for an appointment.

Student employees are not eligible to be tested, said Phil Weiler, WSU Vice President for Marketing and Communications.

Unlike with the student testing, the National Guard will be testing employees not currently experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, Weiler said.

Employees can get tested from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 2 at the LJ Smith Parking Lot at 1935 Ott Rd. Testing will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 3 at Beasley Coliseum, according to the Human Resources website.

If employees are experiencing symptoms, they need to contact their healthcare provider to get tested, Weiler said.

In the case an employee tests positive, they will be contacted by a WSU contact tracer and instructed on what they need to do, Weiler said.

WSU has spent over $250,000 on student testing. Students have had free testing resources for about a month. An estimate for employee testing costs is not available yet, he said. 

There are about 1,300 positive cases in Whitman County, and the vast majority of them are people in the college-age range, Weiler said. 

“That’s where the need was. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But we know that we have faculty members and staff members who are interacting with students on a regular basis.” 

Employees must bring their ID and a consent form found online, according to the Human Resources website. They must fill out the attestation form before getting tested.

Employees will have to check the website for future testing times and locations, according to the website.

“If we want to get ahead of this outbreak we have to reduce as many barriers as possible to getting students and employees tested,” Weiler said.