Where to Get Tested

The Claremont Colleges tests its students, faculty, and staff, primarily through SHS. Pomona and Pitzer use HHB for faculty and staff, and in some cases, CMC uses HHB for faculty and staff. Your institution and campus affiliation will designate which provider you test through. Please see the Testing Site Matrix below to determine your provider on campus. 24/7 testing for those using SHS is available through Covid vending machines.

SHS Testing Site Matrix (Updated 08/22/22)

What is pooled testing?

Pooled testing is the process of combining the specimens of saliva from multiple people (in the case of TCC, eight samples are pooled at once) and conducting one laboratory test on the combined pool of specimens to detect the virus. Pooled tests that return positive results will require each specimen in the pool to be retested individually to determine which individual(s) are positive. No expectation using pooled techniques will reduce the efficacy of our screening program in any meaningful way.

Why is SHS using pooled testing?

Positivity rates across TCC remain extremely low, which is a great testament to the various mitigating factors implemented by the 7Cs, such as vaccinations and universal indoor masking. When the overall positivity rate is relatively low, pooled testing provides the advantage of a lower number of tests needed to be run by the lab to process all the individual samples. Essentially, fewer lab resources are used resulting in a more cost-effective approach when used for screening of a population that is highly vaccinated such as TCC students. This process also results in improved turnaround times for test results.

Omicron Variant

PCR testing methods (single individuals or pooled samples) utilized by ShieldT3 are still effective in detecting infection by all known COVID variant, including Omicron.

See ShieldT3’s Omicron Statement Here

How can I help prevent illness?

How can I help prevent illness? Prevention measures are similar to those utilized against the common cold and flu.

Get a flu shot. We strongly recommend that everyone obtain seasonal flu vaccination. While it will not prevent COVID-19, initial symptoms can be similar to COVID-19. Any illness right now can increase anxiety and concerns. Contact Student Health Services at 909-621-8222 to schedule an appointment.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Don’t share food and drinks.
• Clean and disinfect shared surfaces and objects that are touched frequently (e.g. door knobs, desks, phones).
• If you can, avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
• Wear a face covering/mask whenever indoors and while outdoors when social distancing is not possible

How effective are prevention measures against COVID-19?
COVID-19 is still a relatively new disease, so data is limited, but there is increasing evidence that these preventive measures are quite effective. Yale medicine provides a nice review of these measures in this article. Additionally, a 2017 CDC report about pandemic flu concluded that actions like the ones listed above dramatically slowed the spread of influenza in communities and reduced the peak number of cases and demands on hospitals during pandemics. The total number of overall cases and ill health effects related to the flu also dropped. (see figure below).

I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed, who can I talk to?

Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services (MCAPS) is dedicated to TCC student emotional health and can be reached 24/7 at 909-621-8202. MCAPS also offers tele-therapy for students living in California.

Students can also reach out to 7C.Health for 24/7 on-demand telemedicine counseling visits.

Employees should reach out to their primary care providers and/or mental health providers.

Employees can also reach out to their Human Resources departments to see if they qualify for any counseling sessions under an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

The World Health Organization (WHO) has tips for helping children deal with stress and for dealing with your own stress during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Tips on cleaning and disinfecting your personal and shared spaces.

Guidance regarding best practices to stay healthy continues to evolve. The TCC Community is asked to practice good healthy habits by staying up to date with Covid vaccines, getting tested if needed, following recommendations for Covid exposure, staying home if you have suspected or confirmed Covid, staying home if you are sick, seeking treatment for illness and practicing good hygiene. Read more details on best practices.

Here is a downloadable resource for dealing with anxiety and stress related to Covid-19: