COVID-19 Testing

Pomona students exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms are still required to test. Testing remains available at Student Health Services (SHS.)

If students are symptomatic at any time, they must test within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms. 

If you test positive for COVID-19 via an at-home (rapid) test, you must immediately email a photo of the positive test result to contact.tracers@claremont.edu and covidsupport@pomona.edu.  

Testing is available through Student Health Services (SHS). When taking a test, please follow the instructions carefully to ensure that your test results are connected to your SHS portal.

There is no longer a separate requirement — the same testing requirements are in effect for COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status.

Results of tests given at Student Health Services via an appointment will be viewable in your student portal within an hour.

If you have not received a notification of your results within 48 hours, please contact Student Health Services at (909) 621-8222.

It is the student’s responsibility to log in and check their result every time they take a test.

It is also their responsibility to speak with a testing supervisor if they haven’t received their results within 48 hours. There are no automatic phone calls for positive results, so you cannot assume that your test result was normal if you don’t receive a phone call.

Yes, the saliva test is a PCR test.

If you test positive for COVID-19 via an at-home (rapid) test, you must immediately email a photo of the positive test result to contact.tracers@claremont.edu and covidsupport@pomona.edu. 

Rapid test kits are available for pick-up during business hours at SHS and 24/7 at the Campus Safety Office (101 South Mills Ave). 

Please note that PCR tests are no longer available via vending machines on campus.

No, repeat saliva PCR testing is not allowed after a positive result.

According to LA County Department of Public Health guidelines, isolation period refers to:

Individuals with COVID-19 with symptoms: Individuals who have COVID-19 and are experiencing symptoms shall stay home away from others until fever free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medication AND other symptoms are mild and improving. Masks are required to leave isolation before 10 days from when symptoms began or the date of their first positive test, when around other people. You can remove your mask sooner if you have two sequential negative tests at least one day apart. 

Individuals with COVID-19 without symptoms: Individuals who have COVID-19 and are not experiencing symptoms are not required to isolate provided they wear a well-fitting, high-quality respiratory mask whenever around other people. You can remove your mask sooner if you have two sequential negative tests at least one day apart.

Your positive test result also comes with instructions on how to complete a contact tracing case intake questionnaire. Compliance with contact tracing is a requirement of a student’s enrollment and an employee’s employment. This case intake questionnaire should be completed within 24 hours of your positive diagnosis. Failure to comply may result in sanctions from your campus/employer. If you are having any trouble completing this questionnaire, please call the contact tracing line at (909) 607-9995 or speak with your dean (students).

Once the College is notified you have tested positive for COVID-19, you will be provided with isolation orders that inform you of your isolation room assignment and other details. Please pay close attention to the packing list that is provided with your isolation assignment so that you bring everything you need to your isolation room. You are required to isolate for one day.

On day two if you do not have a fever (without the use of any fever-reducing medication for 24 hours) and are feeling better, in consultation with a contact tracer from Student Health Services (SHS) it will be determined whether you are ready for release from isolation.

You must wear a mask from the day of your release until day 10 of your isolation timeline. In cases where the student doesn’t meet requirements for release, there will be daily follow up by the contact tracers until the necessary criteria for release from isolation are achieved.

If you receive a positive test result from an outside testing location, you are still legally required to isolate. You should inform your covidsupport@pomona.edu (students) as soon as you receive your positive test result. You should also inform the SHS contact tracing team by emailing contact.tracers@claremont.edu. Please attach a copy of your positive lab report to the email. 

All faculty and staff who:

• know they are COVID-19 positive through a test
• suspect they have COVID-19 through symptoms
• are under an order to self-isolate or quarantine issued by a health care practitioner or the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (or other local, state, or federal agency)

should immediately report that information by calling the HHB Clinic at (909) 607-0616 or by filling out the health check form.

The Hamilton Health Box Testing Clinic, located at 118 E 8^th Street, will be open for testing during the following hours:

• Tuesdays 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and
• Thursdays 2 p.m.- 3:30 p.m.

First, you must report your positive COVID-19 diagnosis to the campus nurse Stephanie Garcia-Barragan by email, call (909) 607-0616 or you may fill out your Health Check and someone will contact you with further instructions.

You may test with Hamilton Health Box at any of the walk-in times listed above, accommodations for travel or medical procedures will not be made. Please take into consideration that test results are generated from 24-48 hours (about 2 days) from specimen collection by the lab.

Overseeing Pomona’s COVID-19-related health protocols and to consult with faculty and staff, HHB provides a bilingual nurse, dedicated to the Pomona campus but employed and trained by HHB, whose duties include:

• establishing and operating an on-campus clinic to provide COVID-19 advising, testing and contact-tracing services for the campus community;
• advising faculty and staff who report COVID-19 symptoms or exposure to someone who tested positive;
• administering a PCR test when appropriate and, based on test results, advising faculty or staff members on the need to stay off campus and when they will be cleared to return to work;
• alerting the College’s COVID compliance officer in Human Resources as to the work status of affected faculty or staff members;
• implementing contact tracing procedures in the event that a faculty or staff member tests positive for COVID-19;
• alerting other members of the Pomona campus community as to possible exposure; and
• helping the College community implement state and county public health standards and continue to develop appropriate health practices.
• Provide a nursing assessment for any staff or faculty experiencing symptoms.

Faculty and staff can reach Nurse Stephanie Garcia-Barragan at the on-campus clinic Monday through Friday at (909) 607-0616 or via email at stephanie.garcia-barragan@pomona.edu.

If you are having an emergency, please call 911. You can reach the nurse to receive non-emergency consultations after hours at stephanie.garcia-barragan@pomona.edu.