Inside University of Illinois' massive COVID-19 testing operation:
In mid-May, UIUC began developing its own saliva test with a team that included chemists, data scientists, epidemiologists and veterinary virologists. Burke said the team had a breakthrough in deactivating and isolating the RNA of the virus in a sample -- normally an involved and expensive process -- by heating the saliva sample at 95 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
"It really has to be that integrated, fast and frequent testing program to make the whole thing work," Burke said."Because the pace at which the virus expands inside a person, you really do have a preciously short window of time to find out who's positive, quickly help them isolate safely and stop them from spreading it to others."
Every hour, the racks of samples are delivered by golf cart to the campus' veterinary lab and go straight into the hot water bath to deactivate the virus. The lab runs tests 24 hours a day on weekdays, and nearly that on weekends. Smith said the school has received a positive response from students."It's nice to know there's a human looking out for them," she said., told ABC News he was"skeptical" at first how long the school would be able to keep its campus open. But so far, the school's testing efforts and enforcement of masks and social distancing have been mostly encouraging.
The positivity rate had also increased in the days leading up to Sept. 2, from around 0.5% when students first returned to campus to a peak of 2.86%. That day, the school announced it would be going into a two-week lockdown, with only essential activities like food shopping and getting tested permitted, to help curb the recent rise in cases.
As the testing capacity has increased, the lab has also experienced a bit of a slowdown in turning around results, with some taking up to 48 hours, Smith said. The university has recently introduced robotics, with plans to add more, to help accelerate and streamline the lab work. Smith is also helping to run monthly risk surveys to help narrow down who is most likely to get the virus."Right now we're fishing in the ocean, and we'd rather fish in a pond," Smith said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Inside Netflix’s Quest to Become a Global TV GiantBela Bajaria has been named Netflix's Head of Global TV, replacing Cindy Holland who is exiting the company after 18 years as chief content officer. Read Variety's recent cover story on the Netflix exec
Read more »
Inside Katy Perry & Orlando Bloom's First Weeks as Parents to DaisyKaty Perry and Orlando Bloom are over-the-moon with their baby girl, Daisy.
Read more »
Inside Proper Gnar, the First Black Woman-Owned, Beyoncé-Approved Skateboard Company'Skateboarders, they're always so accepting of different people. It also gives you time to be on your own. You can go skating and it's just you, your board, and your thoughts.' propergnar
Read more »
Inside Project Veritas's Cynical, Transphobic Outing of a 65-Year-Old Fast Food WorkerVincent Marzello didn’t expect to be chatting with a stranger. The 65-year-old from West Lebanon, New Hampshire, sat at a computer in his local library, where he could get 30 minutes of internet, his only real online access. As Marzello remembers it, a youngish, blonde man struck up a conversation: he was from California, had just moved to the area. Then the man suddenly pivoted, musing aloud that he might have voted twice. An odd thing to mention to someone you’d just met; a confession to a crime, really. Marzello got the man’s phone number but never saw him again.
Read more »
Inside The Goring – The Queen's favourite London hotelQueen Elizabeth II loves London's Goring Hotel in Belgravia – discover why The Queen loves the Michelin-starred venue
Read more »
Tia Nomore's 'Nu Chain' Video Peeks Inside LA's Jewelry District.TIAYESMOR's new video is out now. Check it out right here.
Read more »