By Kie Relyea

The Bellingham Herald

BELLINGHAM — Mandatory COVID-19 testing, daily symptom checks and masks will be required for the estimated 1,800 students who will attend classes each day on the Western Washington University campus this fall quarter, according to information released by the college on Friday, Aug. 28.

The details lay out what students and faculty can expect heading into Sept. 23, the first day of classes for a scaled-back fall quarter — a decision that was announced at the end of July because of what was then a significant increase in COVID-19 cases nationally.

“While we had hoped to offer more classes in person, the alarming rise in infection rates both locally and nationally made it clear that those plans were not viable for fall if we are to keep the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and the community as our guiding principle,” WWU President President Sabah Randhawa said in the Friday post to students and their families.

That means that about 90% of Western’s classes will be online in fall. A few classes will be in-person, such as hands-on labs and applied performance, Western said.

Here’s the newest information about what to expect for fall from information provided by Randhawa and the university.

How many students will be taking classes at Western in Bellingham?

There will be about 1,800 students on campus taking classes in person, compared to about 15,000 students before the pandemic.

About 1,300 are expected to live in on-campus dorms. Before COVID-19 about 4,000 students lived on campus.

How many students will be living off-campus, in the community?

That’s not yet known, according to WWU spokesman Paul Cocke.

What are the COVID-19 testing requirements for students?

They must be tested five to seven days before moving into the residence halls or starting classes on campus. They must provide those results to the Student Health Center.

On the day they move into on-campus housing, they will be tested again before unloading their stuff.