Employees move from test site, CARE Crew jobs


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Most workers at coronavirus testing locations will take on other roles within USC Student Health as testing is phased out, Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said in a student media health briefing March 8. Some testers were hired as temporary workers and may be let go as testing sites close. Trojan Check workers will receive pay until the end of April, the University said in a series of statements to the Daily Trojan. 

Coronavirus surveillance testing for fully vaccinated individuals ended March 1. USC dropped the measure along with a number of other coronavirus prevention protocols, including the no-guest policy March 1 and the masking requirement March 7. 

The Trojan Check requirement ended April 4. The workers who scanned Trojan Checks at campus entrances, known as the CARE Crew, are temporary workers. Some staff members will continue working to “close down operations,” the University said in a statement. 

“We are looking into employment opportunities throughout USC for positions that may be good matches for these staff members,” the University said. 

Trojan Check began in June 2020 in anticipation for an in-person Fall 2020 semester and has remained in place since. It functioned as a self-reported coronavirus symptom tracker that students, faculty, staff and visitors needed to complete to access campus.

USC first began testing in March 2020 at Engemann Plaza for students with coronavirus symptoms. Surveillance testing, or Pop Testing, began in August 2020. Student Health marked its millionth coronavirus test administered Feb. 14. 

The USC Bookstore and Pardee testing locations have already shut down. Van Orman said testing locations will remain open depending on demand, and as less people get tested, more locations will close. 

“We’re going to really judge it based on the number of tests we’re doing,” she said. 

Van Orman said that, even as surveillance testing winds down, testing will be available for people who are symptomatic, have been exposed and for high-risk individuals for the foreseeable future. 

“We’re undergoing a transition right now in our whole community about when testing happens,” Van Orman said. 

Van Orman said she envisions that, in six to 12 months, coronavirus testing will be similar to flu or strep throat testing, where only symptomatic people go to the doctor to get tested.