Safer Illinois adds wait times for testing sites

The+Safer+Illinois+app+with+its+new+wait+time+feature.+The+green+circles+indicate+the+testing+sites+arent+crowded.+

Ethan Simmons

The Safer Illinois app with its new wait time feature. The green circles indicate the testing sites aren’t crowded.

By Ethan Simmons, News Editor

The University is making a couple changes to its testing sites: more tents are moving indoors for colder weather, while wait times for each site are being displayed on the Safer Illinois app. 

Chancellor Robert Jones announced the University is “working to shift some tent testing sites indoors” in his weekly update on Sept. 25. 

Currently, there are 17 saliva testing sites on campus, available to University students, faculty and staff. Five of those sites — at the Campus Recreation Center East, Student Dining and Residential Programs Building, Illinois Street Residence Hall, Illini Union and State Farm Center — are already indoors. 

On Sept. 29, the University unveiled the testing location wait time feature on the Safer Illinois app. When students, faculty and staff search through the sites on the app, a small circle sits beneath each location’s address.

A green circle means the wait time to get a test at that location is slim to none. A yellow circle means the site is slightly busier, while red means a hefty wait for anyone looking to submit a new saliva sample. 

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Undergraduate students are still required test twice a week, or three times if they’re deemed to be at higher risk of exposure. Faculty, staff and graduate students must only test once a week if they’re operating on campus at all. 

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