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What you need to know about on‑campus rapid COVID testing at Dal this fall

- September 15, 2021

Â鶹´«Ã½ testing clinics and take-home test kits are available to faculty, students, and staff. (Nick Pearce photos)
Â鶹´«Ã½ testing clinics and take-home test kits are available to faculty, students, and staff. (Nick Pearce photos)

Regular COVID-19 testing is an important part of stopping the spread of the virus and keeping one another safe. To make access to testing even more convenient for the Dal community, the university has collaborated with Nova Scotia Public Health to launch a self-swab COVID-19 rapid screening program for faculty, staff and students across all four campuses.

There are two ways you can get tested on-campus:

Testing can also be done at many locations across the province .

Who can get tested


The Â鶹´«Ã½ testing clinics and take-home test kits are available to faculty, students, staff and campus subcontractors. Those being tested CANNOT be:

  • Under the age of 16
  • symptomatic (cough, or )
  • required to isolate due to travel or COVID-19 exposures
  • required to test due to COVID-19 exposures
  • tested COVID-19 positive in the last 90 days

People who do not meet these requirements should seek out testing through .

How does a self-swab test work
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In a self-swab model, faculty, staff and students will take their own sample.

At our clinics, the process will be instructed and observed by a trained swabber. The swabber will wear mask, gloves and face shield and the participant takes their own sample and puts it into the collection tube. Participants will receive their test results by text message or phone call in about 30-40 minutes. NS Health provides access to a software system that assigns a random code to each test, so confidentiality is maintained. Results are sent automatically from the same software system.

Testing site locations and hours of operation

Halifax campuses

Location: Macdonald Building, University Hall
Days of operation: Monday to Friday
Hours: 12-4 p.m

Truro campus

Location: Dal AC Health Services - Dairy Building
Days of operation:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Hours:
3-4 p.m.

Testing is available by walk-in and, eventually, by appointment. Information on booking appointments will be updated once this service becomes available again.

Take-away test kit pickup

A take-away test kit is a rapid test you can take and complete on your own time.

For take-away test kits, you review the results yourself after about 15 minutes. [PDF] or watch the video below:


They can be picked up at the following locations:

Take-away test kit pickup

A take-away test kit is a rapid test you can take and complete on your own time. Test kits (limit two per person per week) can be picked up at the following locations:

  • Studley campus:Ìý
  • Sexton campus:
    • Melda Murray Student Centre, Room A109, A/B Building, (M to F, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
  • Carleton campus:Ìý
  • Truro campus

Volunteers needed

Come help us with on-campus testing! No experience necessary.Ìý and you'll receive an email with signup instructions.