Column: Resident students shouldn't be required to provide COVID-19 test

While I acknowledge that USC Aiken is doing the most they can to try and lessen the spread of COVID-19, I disagree with the requirement of needing to provide a negative test from five days prior to returning on campus.

Students can still get infected before returning to campus.

For example, if a student is tested on Monday, they can still get infected before returning to campus and show a negative test result and be allowed back on campus. This causes the test to be a waste of time, supplies and possibly money.

Commuter students, who leave and return to campus frequently, are not required to be tested before returning to classes. Classes are mixed with resident and commuter students, so by having only resident students get tested is pointless.

The resident students are allowed to come and go as they please. There is the possibility of moving into the dorms and contracting the virus the same day while off-campus.

The COVID test is not as accurate as we would like it to be. While no test is going to be 100% accurate, there are many factors that can cause a test to come out with either a false positive or a false negative. 

As a resident student, I truly appreciate the concern and extra caution the school is taking in order to keep us safe, but I believe that requiring resident students to take a COVID test before returning to campus is a waste of time and resources.