Testing and Screening
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Student Screening and Testing
- Employee Screening and Testing
UC San Diego has scaled up symptomatic and asymptomatic testing efforts through the Return to Learn program to improve the health and safety of our campus community to quickly identify and contain any potential outbreaks of COVID‑19.
On this page you will find information about the daily symptom and exposure screening, COVID-19 testing, post move-in instructions, what to do if you have symptoms, what to do if you receive a positive result, exposure and contact tracing, quarantine and isolation housing and mental health support.
All undergraduate and graduate students living on campus or coming to campus or any UC location or property for educational, research, co-curricular, recreational or social activities must conduct daily symptom and exposure screening.
All undergraduate and graduate students who are living off-campus and studying remotely are strongly encouraged to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and conduct a daily self-screening in order to consistently monitor their health and quickly schedule testing, if the need arises.
Green thumb: You are cleared to come to campus or UC properties. You have no symptoms or exposure and you have completed all required testing (if applicable).
Yellow thumb: You have been exposed and should be in quarantine. Do not attend in-person classes or come to campus or UC properties.
Red thumb: You have symptoms that are related to COVID-19 or you have not completed all required testing (if applicable). Do not attend in-person classes or come to campus and begin isolation until you speak with a clinical provider and/or receive your test results.
All undergraduate and graduate students have access to free symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 testing through Student Health Services or UC San Diego Health. Our strategy for testing is adaptive; we will adjust our risk-based frequency strategy on who we test and how frequently we test based on the viral activity we find during our ongoing monitoring.
All undergraduate and graduate students living on campus or coming to campus or any UC location/property for educational, research, co-curricular, recreational or social activities are required to participate in free asymptomatic testing on a weekly basis.
All undergraduate and graduate students living in the San Diego area, studying remotely and not coming to campus or any UC property, are recommended to participate in free asymptomatic testing on a weekly basis.
Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to take part in self-administered testing. Numerous vending machines are available across campus to pick up a test kit, which must be returned within 72 hours—from the time the kit is picked up— at a drop box near a vending machine. Students may pick up one test kit for their own usage on a weekly basis, unless authorized to test more frequently by Student Health Services.
Asymptomatic students and those with mild symptoms may test through the vending machine process. Students with moderate to severe symptoms should contact Student Health Services. Students may also visit the Price Center for a walk-in self-administered test, no appointment needed.
Please blow your nose prior to completing your nasal swab to ensure accurate results. Watch a video here to learn how to complete the self-administered test. Also, you may find instructions for the self-administered test in English here and in Spanish here.
Individual self-administered tests are identified by using a barcode that is scanned at the time of sampling and links to your campus credentials. This identification step is critical to ensure accurate and timely results. Please prepare before you arrive:
*For those who prefer an alternative, iPads are available at the Price Center location.
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Vending Machines
Monday - Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.*
*Please note the Price Center vending machine weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Price Center Clinic and Price Center vending machine will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18 in observance of MLK Day. All other campus vending machines will be available for use.
Students may now pick up a self-administered COVID-19 test kit at one of numerous vending machines across campus. Samples should be returned within 72 hours—from the time the kit is picked up—at drop boxes next to the vending machines.
Vending machine locations:
For those who would like to schedule a drive-thru appointment, please use the link below. Note that drive-thru appointments are currently in very high demand and may have limited appointments available.
Unless granted a special exemption approved by Student Health Services, students who are on-campus and have not been tested for more than 9 days will be referred to the Student Conduct Office for the progressive discipline process. See the the full noncompliance policy.
For students who complete their COVID-19 test outside of UC San Diego, please send an email to studenthealth@health.ucsd.edu and attach your result as well as your PID to ensure correct attribution. Your result will be added into your student health chart.
After you are tested and move-in to your campus residence, you will need to limit your movement and interactions for a period of time. We are asking all students to follow additional precautions during the first few weeks after arrival to minimize the chance of any student inadvertently introducing virus into the community.
What happens if you receive a positive result »
UC San Diego uses the definition of close contact established by San Diego County public health officials.
Those who may have been exposed will be provided a free test through UC San Diego Health.
If you are a close contact, the UC San Diego contact tracing team will reach out to you with next steps.
Isolation and quarantine housing are available for undergraduate and graduate students who test positive for COVID-19 during the academic year. Graduate students may choose to isolate themselves in their apartment with their family with consultation from Student Health Services. What’s the difference between quarantine and isolation housing?
Students with an on-campus housing contract will not be charged extra for isolation housing. Learn more on the HDH FAQ page.
Meals will be delivered to isolation housing three times a day, charged to students’ dining meal plan or billed to their housing account. Costs are $8 for breakfast, $11 for lunch and $11 for dinner. Meal charges will be applied to the student’s dining plan. Students without a dining plan will be billed through their housing account.
If you are exposed to someone with COVID-19, you will be required to quarantine for 14 days; you may or may not, subject to the University's sole discretion, be able to complete this quarantine in your own residence.
You will receive care from Student Health and Well-being Services. You will be tested for the virus between days five and 10 after the date of the last known exposure.
There are 300 beds available for asymptomatic quarantine and another 300 beds available for symptomatic isolation for students.
Undergraduate students may reach out to the Dean of Student Affairs in their college. Deans can assist with notifying your instructor about absences, connecting you with campus resources, retrieving items from your on-campus residential hall room or apartment (if needed), and helping to answer non-medical questions.
There are many new and existing resources available to help maintain mental and emotional wellness during the pandemic. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers confidential counseling and psychiatric services for registered students via telemedicine video visits. To start the process, schedule a brief telephone assessment by calling (858) 534-3755 or online through MyStudentChart. In addition, CAPS offers drop-in virtual workshops to help develop coping skills to increase resilience and wellbeing during this pandemic, as well as free, self-guided mental health technologies through iFlourish.