Why aren’t more men at USC getting tested for coronavirus?

Male students at the University of South Carolina are getting tested for coronavirus at a far lower rate than female students, data show.

Of the 14,847 students who have been tested since Aug. 1, 64% of them have been women, which means 36% were men, according to data provided by USC spokesman Jeff Stensland.

“We’re not certain why exactly,” Stensland said in an email. “Perhaps it’s a misplaced sense of invincibility. All students are encouraged to take advantage of testing, and men are just as at risk to contract the virus as women are.”

Like many colleges, USC has more female students than male — 53% of undergraduates are female while 47% are male, according to USC’s website.

A significant number of students refusing to get tested would undermine USC’s goal of controlling the virus spread through aggressive testing, contact tracing and quarantine.

The problem has become severe enough that USC’s top coronavirus official, Assistant Vice President of Health and Wellness Debbie Beck, made a public plea during a Wednesday town hall for male students to get tested if they have symptoms or think they have been exposed.

Beck’s plea comes as USC aims to ramp up testing on campus following a brief closure of its saliva testing lab.

USC President Robert Caslen said during the Wednesday town hall he wants to test all students before they return home for Thanksgiving break.

Men, especially older men with underlying health conditions, are more likely to die from COVID-19 than women, according to an article from the Brookings Institution.

This phenomenon is not unique to USC. American men are less likely to seek treatment for coronavirus than women, according to an article from NPR.