After deactivating 375 student IDs last month over failure to comply with required COVID-19 testing, University of Michigan authorities have cracked down on a second wave of students for ignoring testing requirements.
An additional 718 students who haven’t taken required coronavirus tests or “do not have a prior test on file and have used their Mcard recently” have been locked out of non-residential buildings on campus, the school announced.
Weekly COVID testing is mandatory for all students who live or work on campus or access buildings and facilities at the university. A notification email was sent to those who haven’t been tested in the past four weeks, including undergraduate, professional, and graduate students.
These students had their ID cards — also called M cards — deactivated, meaning they are now barred from entering buildings that are conducting classes or holding social events. A majority of these students are off campus, attending online classes. Others have to be on campus for in-person classes or to do research.
Of the 375 students who had their M-cards deactivated last month, 136 have had their IDs reactivated after they agreed to go through the school’s COVID testing protocols.
“Despite our excitement and optimism around expanded eligibility and opportunities for COVID-19 vaccines, at this point of the pandemic, when around others we must continue the practices of social distancing, wearing a mask, routine testing and other proven mitigation strategies to slow the spread of the coronavirus,” executive director of University Health Service Robert Ernst said in a statement.