A day after announcing a positive COVID-19 case, the University at Albany says it has a plan to increase testing.

The pooled surveillance program was created by researchers at UAlbany's RNA Institute. The results will also be conducted on campus.

What You Need To Know

  • UAlbany announced Tuesday that a student tested positive for COVID-19

  • Contact tracers have determined 10 people had significant interaction with the student

  • University officials say its goal is to conduct 5,000 tests per week

"We will be doing this on a regular basis, and by the time this is fully operational, we'll be doing a little bit over 5,000 tests per week," said University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez.

The tests will be mandatory for any student and faculty member on campus. The university says the program will help target areas of the campus where cases have the potential to spread.

But despite the planned increased testing, some students say they're concerned by the behavior of their classmates.

"The other day, people were walking around without masks on. People in the CC [campus center] had their mask down under their nose," said junior Olivia Vecchio.

During Wednesday's press conference, student Dylan Klein asked new SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras why the university didn't take some of these measures earlier.

"Any time we would have questions for, whether it would be SUNY all the way to the University at Albany, they were not getting answered," Klein said.

Malatras indicated he cannot answer for previous administrations, but told Klein to keep in contact with him.

Vecchio says besides improper mask use, she's heard of a number of off-campus parties and worries about Albany's openness, saying anyone could come on and off the property. She hopes her classmates will do the right thing.

"Please stay home as much as you can. Try not to go out. Try not to party. Just make it better for everybody who needs to be here who wants to just get an education," Vecchio said.

The increased testing will begin September 7.