![]() ![]() The program adds another layer of protection against the virus, and even when the pandemic is over and such mass testing is no longer necessary, the equipment will still be of high value to the science department and the university. The testing “is pretty quick and pretty painless,” said Heidi Manning, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. If one of the containers with five samples registers positive, there is always enough saliva left from those samples to run individual tests and determine who has the disease. Testing Supervisor Eve Schwartz said it takes about three hours to prepare all those samples and put them into the PCR machine to get final results. Since the machine used to detect the virus can test two strips at a time, that means samples from up to 70 individuals can be tested at once (one container on each strip holds a control sample to confirm the equipment is working properly). While the new testing equipment could be used to conduct individual tests, to speed up the process and reduce cost samples from five people are combined into a single, small container, which itself is connected to a line of seven other containers. In particular, since the tests are random and mandatory, the system should catch asymptomatic patients and help prevent them from spreading the virus unwittingly.Īnd when they say “batch,” they’re not kidding. The idea is not to diagnose an individual, Vice President of Student Life Kit Foley said, but to conduct “batch surveillance” that can better gauge the existence of COVID-19. One-quarter of them are chosen randomly each week, which means that, while you may average testing every four weeks, you could be tested multiple weeks in a row. The university is testing athletes, but also testing the entire campus community regularly. The sign even offers tips if you’re having trouble working up enough saliva (the test only requires 1 milliliter): Rub inside of cheek with tongue, massage outside of cheek, make a chewing motion and think of your favorite food. #Can i put a 23andme test in a usps dropbox how to#While the mirrors remain, the rest of the space is redesigned with a sign explaining how to expectorate enough saliva into a sterile tube, cap it, seal the tube in a plastic bag and drop it into a cooler chest. Previously, students and staff could walk in, step to a table that including a small mirror, and use the mirror to guide themselves through swab insertion. The university was already set up to collect test samples, but with the more intrusive nose swabs. Using saliva makes the sample collection simpler. Thanks to a generous $300,000 donation from Mark and Lorraine Alles, Misericordia was able to buy all the equipment and supplies to conduct saliva test samples on campus, eliminating the need to send them to an outside lab. ![]() The goal of “it,” which includes testing about 25% of students, faculty and staff each week for the foreseeable future, is primarily to find asymptomatic cases of the virus to prevent people from spreading the disease unwittingly. ![]() “I had to drive a half-hour to do this,” Sophomore Brandon Kelley said after conjuring up enough saliva to participate in a new COVID-19 mass surveillance program at Misericordia University. If you don’t happen to be on campus the day you are randomly selected to participate? Well, that could be a bit of problem. You can ignore the mirror, it’s a holdover from when tests were done with nose swabs.Īnd don’t worry about the size of the sample tube, you only need to fill the scant space in the tapered bottom. If you need help spitting, there’s a short list of suggestions. ![]()
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