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BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — Today CU Boulder began expanding its COVID Surveillance Testing for off-campus students and staff.

The move is designed to help get COVID-19 under control at the university which has been hit hard by the virus.

Testing sites like these on the CU Boulder campus now allow off campus students to take COVID-19 tests without an appointment; a service previously only allowed for on-campus students.

CU Boulder spokesperson Melanie Marquez Parra said, “Testing is an important piece of the campus’ plan for addressing COVID-19 and expanding that testing is important in order to be able to track cases and address the needs of students as they arise.”

CU Boulder says the goal is to give students more options to complete a test and understand if they’ve been exposed to COVID-19.

“That’s awesome. That’s better we get a better representative of the population because as of now its mainly the students getting sick,” Gregorio Vela, a CU Boulder student said.

The tests are designed to help asymptomatic carriers become aware of their status. 

“I think the more information we have about COVID is better since it’s kind of a newer thing,” CU student Brianna Mallett said.

Last week anywhere from 700 to 1,000 students were taking so-called monitoring tests with the no reservation system. 

“The monitoring test is there to say I have no indication that I’ve been exposed to COVID. But I’m interested in doing this test just to be safe and monitor myself and see if there’s something that I don’t know,” Mallett said.

CU Boulder says all students with symptoms have been able to take tests. 

The new walk up no-symptom plan is one more weapon in the war on COVID-19.