Regular Hours

• Chao Center guest services desk (M-F 8am-5pm); after hours (M-F 5pm-10pm) and weekends (Sa-Su 2pm-10pm)
• Spangler Center 2nd floor service counter (M-F 8am-5pm)
• Shad Fitness counter (M-F 10am-6pm)
• Morgan Hall Coffee Cart – For faculty and staff only; (Tu, Wed, Th 8am–12pm)
• Please note: HBS residence hall residents can pick up every Friday from Pack City at OSS

Please do not open and take your test at the pick-up locations. Your test should be done at home or in a private location the same day you plan to drop it off.

Take the self-administered test training (login required) in the Harvard Training Portal or follow the instructions in the kit. Please note you must activate your kit and take your swab on the same day you plan to drop it off. To check your testing cadence in Crimson Clear – select name and Profile, and then look under COVID Testing Info > Testing Group.

The following drop-off locations are located on the HBS campus. You can find a map of all Harvard drop locations on this Google map. You will not have access to other bins at Harvard.

Regular Hours
Drop-off bins are available in the following locations:

• Chao Center guest services desk (M-F 8am-5pm); after hours (M-F 5pm-10pm) and weekends (Sa-Su 2pm-10pm)
• Spangler Center, 1st floor east rotunda (M-F 8am-5pm) and weekends (Sa-Su 9am-3pm)
• Shad Hall Fitness counter (M-F 10am-6pm)
• Rock Center student mailbox area (24/7)

Make every effort to drop off your test as soon after you have taken your swab as possible, and before noon to ensure your results are returned quickly. Bins are picked up regularly throughout the day, but not overnight. It is critical that you activate the test kit on color.com/activate and make sure your tube is securely closed and sealed in the zipped bag before placing it in the collection bin.

The Broad Institute tests all of the Color COVID-19 self-swab kits collected from the Harvard community and works with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to review and refine its methodology for interpreting lab results to align with emergent best practices. Color, the health technology company partnering with The Broad Institute for Harvard's COVID-19 testing, will send you an email and text notification when your results are available. See the Keep Harvard Healthy site for details on the different kinds of test results, including Negative, Positive and Unsatisfactory Sample.

See FAQ for answers to questions about testing positive, contact tracing, isolation, and medical quarantine (which is different than travel quarantine).

• Harvard University Health Services Contact Tracing
• Harvard University Testing Dashboard

One of the primary goals of viral testing is to identify infected individuals as early as possible and to isolate them from the broader community. If an individual tests positive, Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) will begin contact tracing for the greater Harvard community. Anyone with known exposure to a positive case will be required to quarantine and may need additional testing, as these individuals may also be infected.

• Harvard University Health Services Contact Tracing
• Harvard University Testing Dashboard

Only students, essential staff, and faculty who have permission to be on campus are eligible. Students in the residence halls are in A category (3 times/week). Other students in the Boston area are in B category (2 times/week). Faculty and staff who are on campus on average for more than 4 hours/week are in B, C, or D categories depending on their particular needs.

• To confirm if you are eligible: Log into Crimson Clear, view your profile (upper right corner) and check if you are listed as eligible in the “Testing Group” section of your profile.
• If you are eligible in Crimson Clear, next check that Crimson Clear has your current Harvard email address on file. For contractors, this may be your home company email address, e.g., xxxx@yourcompany.com. Use this email address in the color.com organizational email address verification dialog.
  • If the address is incorrect or you continue to get the “ineligible” error, contact support@color.com or call 844.352.6567 to reset your email to current Harvard email account.
• If you are ineligible in Crimson Clear, but believe you are eligible, please contact your eligibility manager.
  • Students: Contact coronavirus@hbs.edu.
  • Faculty: Contact Jean Cunningham (jcunningham@hbs.edu)
  • Staff: Contact your department head or HR partner.