COVID-19 testing exemption options available for students who tested positive over break

Ashley Grimmer
Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:10:58 +0000
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Ohio State students who tested positive for COVID-19 over winter break are now able to submit a request to be exempted from the university’s testing program for up to 90 days.?Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

Ohio State students who tested positive for COVID-19 over winter break can submit an exemption request from the university’s testing program for up to 90 days after receiving a positive result.

Students must provide lab documentation of a positive PCR or antigen test, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email. A similar exemption process was used during the fall semester for students who tested positive for COVID-19 through the university testing program.

The exemption form, found on Ohio State’s Safe and Healthy website, takes three to seven days to process. Students will be notified of their status via email, according to the website.

Students will be added back into the university’s testing program 90 days following their positive test, according to the website. Although some research shows that antibody immunity may last longer than three months, no definitive research is able to extend the exemption.?

“Currently, no one knows how long immunity lasts,” Ohio State’s Safe and Healthy website states. “People who have had COVID-19 can be infected again. It doesn’t seem to be common, but it happens.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antibodies are proteins created by a body’s immune system following an infection or vaccination that help protect from reinfection. It can take one to three weeks to produce antibodies after an infection and protection time differs for every person.

Not all COVID-19 tests are accepted for the testing exemption. The university doesn’t accept antibody tests, which confirm whether a person has previously been infected with the coronavirus. The CDC recommends not using antibody tests as a diagnostic tool.