By Evelynn Schoenthal
Sophomore Kelsey Woodford woke up on October 26 and began her day like any other Monday. She brushed her teeth, made breakfast and attended a Zumba class. Afterward, she received a call from an unknown D.C. number. Woodford answered the call and was told she tested positive for COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic. Woodford packed her things and settled into a room at Yours Truly for a ten-day quarantine.
GW opened its campus back up to the 12,000 students currently enrolled along with staff and faculty in mid-August. GW’s COVID policy includes routine testing for all students and staff authorized to be on-campus. If an on-campus student tests positive, they are removed from their dorm to quarantine for ten days after symptoms begin. However, despite the efforts to keep the GW community safe, little is done to protect those who receive false positives.
“Within the weeks prior, I didn’t do anything where I could have been heavily exposed,” said Woodford. “I was confused as to how and when this happened.”
Although she did not ask for a retest despite suspecting a false positive, others who wish to remain anonymous stated that the GW Testing Center declined their request for a retest.
The probability for false positives increases as the prevalence of a disease decreases. As of November 4, 2021, GW has administered 119,387 tests since the beginning of the school year—408 of which were positive. Despite low COVID rates, mistakes can be made in the process. According to the Federal Drug Administration, mishandling the test cartridge, incorrect storage, reading the test too soon or too late and processing tests in batches can all affect the probability of receiving a false positive.
Furthermore, the CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people refrain from routine testing due to the increased probability of false positives.
Given that once a student tests positive for COVID they are not allowed to test again for three months, GW’s behavior towards those who could have received a false positive on their bi-weekly test puts them at risk in the future.
Woodford expressed concern about the lack of protocol surrounding false positives, “I am excused from bi-weekly testing until January. There is a possibility that I could get COVID for real in that timeframe and I won’t know. I could put others at risk if it happens.”
GW’s COVID procedures aim to keep the GW and surrounding community safe, but lack of acknowledgment of false positives make students concerned for theirs and others safety for the months after their initial test.
