In the fall, Georgia Tech set up an aggressive, multi-pronged approach to limit the spread of the coronavirus on campus — a strategy that depends heavily on support and participation from members of the campus community.

The success of this approach depends on asymptomatic students, faculty, and staff getting tested regularly. Broad testing is essential, and everyone is encouraged to actively participate on a weekly basis.

Testing is done on a walk-up basis, is free of charge, and takes just a few minutes. Before each visit to one of the testing sites on campus, participants should login to mytest.gatech.edu with their Georgia Tech account, complete the survey, and generate a tracking barcode for the test.

At the testing site, participants will apply hand sanitizer and show their tracking barcode to the attendant.

After choosing a workstation, participants will place a saliva sample into a small plastic cup, then draw a sample into a pipette. The samples will then be transferred to a vial containing a viral inactivation buffer, packaged, and deposited into a bin before leaving the testing site. Samples are processed in a campus lab, and processing is usually completed within 48 hours.

On your way out, grab a cookie and a sticker as a treat for participating, and to show others that you got tested.

Participants with a positive test will be informed about what to do next, including isolation, support resources, and medical care. Because of federal and state requirements, all participants will be asked to provide limited personal information at the time of testing.

In addition to getting tested regularly, members of the campus community are encouraged to continue physical distancing, wearing masks, regular handwashing, and adhering to all campus health and safety guidelines. These are the best ways to slow the spread of the virus — and should be followed before and even after getting vaccinated.