Category: Uncategorized

This post contains information that was accurate at time of publication – January 2021 – but is now outdated. For current information regarding COVID Testing, please visit COVID-19 Testing and Locations | UW Medicine.

A new, free COVID-19 testing site is now available to the public in the University of Washington’s E1 parking lot off Montlake Blvd NE just south of University Village.

To schedule a test at the E1 site and view details, click here.

Testing location:
Montlake Blvd NE & Walla Walla Rd
Seattle, WA 98105
(206) 477-3977

UW students, faculty or staff already enrolled in the Husky Coronavirus Testing program should continue to use access to testing through HCT rather than the new E1 site so that HCT enrollee testing data remain part of that program.

For more resources and additional COVID-19 testing locations offered by UW Medicine, visit https://www.uwmedicine.org/coronavirus/testing

For more resources and additional COVID-19 testing locations in King County, visit: https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/testing.aspx

Despite rainy, gray weather this past Saturday and Sunday, UW students, staff and faculty turned out to help residents of Tent City 3 move from Trinity United Methodist Church in Seattle’s Crown Hill neighborhood to their new, three-month home in UW’s W35 parking lot near NE Pacific St. and Brooklyn Ave. In addition to the normal lifting, lugging, packing and unpacking involved in moving 40 people, COVID-19 precautions were incorporated. Volunteers watched their distance, wore their masks and washed their hands frequently.

For those unfamiliar with its history, TC3 is a long-time self-governed community of homeless individuals and families. The camp moves every 90 days in the greater Seattle area utilizing invitations to church parking lots and other properties. TC3 screens potential residents for sex offender status and does not allow drugs, alcohol, harassment or violence. The average time someone lives at TC3 varies from a few days to several months.

TC3’s residency at UW this quarter follows the first TC3 residency at UW in winter quarter of 2017, the first hosting of a sanctioned community of homeless people by a public university.  UW grounded the decision to host in 2017 on the University’s academic mission. More than a dozen classroom and clinical courses connected students and TC3 residents in 2017.

The decision by UW to host again came as a result of advocacy by Tent City Collective, a group of UW students, alumni and Tent City 3 residents looking to repeat the success of 2017. However, the pandemic changed UW’s instructional approach after the commitment to host TC3 had been made. This year’s academic interactions with Tent City 3 are likely to be largely virtual with the exception of clinical courses.

Pandemic precautions added more to the planning. TC3 will have a lower cap on maximum resident numbers while at UW in order to ensure adequate camp spacing. The camp will have extra hand-washing stations. Public Health Seattle & King County has had and will retain responsibility for regular coronavirus testing at TC3 and will provide contact tracing if required.

To learn more about the TC3 at UW and UW’s broader work on homelessness, visit UW’s Addressing Homelessness webpage.

Contact the Tent City Collective if you’re interested in volunteering. Visit them on Facebook or email tentcity@uw.edu.

To donate food or supplies to TC3, visit their webpage.

For questions about the hosting decision and logistics, email regional@uw.edu.

Around 4,000 students are moving into the residence halls at the University of Washington this week. A number of special precautions are being taken to ensure minimal contact and proper physical distancing during the move-in process. View details and a glimpse of the student experience here:
Video: UW students move into residence halls

Huskies prepare now for the start of the school year like no other. With COVID-19 precautions leading to primarily virtual instruction and no Husky football this fall, Seattle campus operations will look different. This means lower levels of activity around campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods, but neighbors can still expect to see a moderate increase in activity starting later this month.

Overall, staff and faculty are working to ensure high quality instruction and the health and safety of the campus community. UW Medicine remains at the forefront of COVID-19 testing, treatment and research. Students, staff and faculty from all over UW have developed innovative ways of teaching, serving and connecting despite COVID-19, starting last spring and now moving into fall.

Neighbors and travelers through the greater University District in Seattle will notice an increased level of activity starting September 8 when some students return to the Greek houses north of campus, and then again the third week of September as students start to move into the residence halls. Final numbers won’t be available until October, but UW expects just more than 4,000 students will live on the Seattle campus this fall. Unfortunately, there won’t be common hangout areas and while food services will be open, the options will be restricted to grab-and-go.

More than 90 percent of class sections on the Seattle campus will be held online. Only very small courses (usually higher level undergraduate and graduate courses) and classes that cannot be taught remotely (labs and performance arts, for example) will be held in person. In these classes masks and physical distancing will be required. UW Facilities is gearing up for frequent and intense cleaning of rooms.

As a reminder, face coverings are required for anyone on campus indoors (unless working solo in a private office) and outdoors when it’s not possible to maintain distancing from others.

On a final note, small businesses around UW’s three campuses, also, are experiencing a year like no other. Keep them in mind when thinking about take-out food, outdoor dining (several in Seattle are participating in a partial closure of University Way between 41^st and 43^rd in order to make distanced café seating possible), small retail needs, and school supplies (University Bookstore’s online ordering has proved super quick).

COVID-19 resources

The University of Washington maintains a COVID-19 facts and resources page that contains both internal and external links on a variety of related topics, such as what to do if you feel sick. View https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/ to start, and drill down to even more specific resources on this page with autumn quarter FAQs: https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/autumnquarter/