MUSC COVID-19 Testing Pre- and Post-December Holidays

Dear MUSC faculty, staff and students,

The numbers of positive COVID-19 cases, deaths from the virus, and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 continue to rise across the country and within South Carolina. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health agencies recommend not traveling for the holidays. If you are traveling it is highly recommended that you receive a COVID-19 diagnostic test before you leave Charleston and that you get tested when you return. Testing before you travel protects those you are visiting and testing when you return protects the MUSC and Charleston community. Please note that while the Charleston area numbers are rising (MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project), our COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalization rates and number of deaths remain lower than many areas in South Carolina and most other states. If a significant number of you travel to an area with a much higher incidence of COVID-19 and return to Charleston with a COVID-19 infection, it puts our community at risk. Therefore, it is critical that you receive a diagnostic test upon return as well as departure.

MUSC COVID On-Campus Testing

We have arranged on-campus pre- and post-holiday testing for your convenience. This high-sensitivity, nasopharyngeal swab test is available for everyone, including those who are asymptomatic. Family members are also invited to get tested and they do not need to accompany you. There is no cost for anyone to receive this testing. Those who have any type of insurance will be asked for that information and your insurance will be billed. Those without insurance will not be charged. Below are details related to this testing.

Testing Hours

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 17 and 18
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 4 and 5

Location

In front of the MUSC Drug Discovery Building on the MUSC Campus in the large space between the Drug Discovery, Bioengineering and Colbert Library buildings.

Scheduling & Appointments

No appointment is needed.
Individuals will walk up to a registration tent at this location.
The layout of the site will allow for social distancing for those in line.
Registration staff will be on-site to facilitate the registration of all individuals.
Individual demographic information and insurance (if applicable) will be collected.

Please bring a government form of identification (e.g. driver’s license) to ensure an accurate and efficient registration process. Please note that student and employee IDs are not acceptable forms of identification.

Results

Results will be reported via MyChart, email, text and/or phone call.
Instructions for registering for MyChart will be provided if you do not yet have a MyChart account.
The expected turnaround time to receive results is 24-48 hours.

Alternative Dates & Locations

If you are unavailable to make it to one of the on-campus testing events or need an alternate date or time you have the following options:

You may choose to use the MUSC Health Virtual Care platform. You will need to create an account and start a virtual care visit. During this process, please note that your request for COVID-19 testing is for travel purposes. You will be able to book an appointment at any of the available MUSC testing sites most of which are off-campus and are drive-through. This option is available to the entire Charleston community so please book early to ensure a spot is available for you.
MUSC is conducting drive through testing at the Charleston International Airport. This site will be open on Tuesday, Dec. 15, Wednesday, Dec. 16, and Thursday, Dec. 17 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is located on the 4th floor of the airport’s Daily Parking Garage, 5500 International Blvd., North Charleston. Decisions regarding post-holidays testing at this site have not been made at this time.

We look forward to the opportunity to provide convenient on-campus testing services to our MUSC faculty, staff and students. Thank you for helping stop the spread of COVID-19

Vaccinations

MUSC Health will receive COVID-19 vaccines soon and will align with CDC and DHEC recommendations for distribution, with health care workers receiving the first vaccinations. You are encouraged to monitor the Medcenter Intranet vaccine information page (login required) and the MUSC Health coronavirus vaccine information page for COVID-19 vaccination information and updates. More information will be available within the next 48 hours.

Sincerely,

Lisa K. Saladin, PT, Ph.D.
MUSC Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Provost

Key Links

MUSC COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project

MUSC Health Virtual Care

Medcenter Intranet vaccine information page (login required)

MUSC Health coronavirus vaccine information page