CMU Looks for Volunteers for COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Program

A Michigan university has started a program with the aim to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Central Michigan University is looking for volunteers on campus for a new testing program for COVID-19. The university is looking for as many asymptomatic volunteers to get tested as possible. That includes students, faculty, and staff on campus.

The testing of asymptomatic volunteers will help the program get an overview of asymptomatic spread according to Central Michigan University's Vice President of Health Affairs, Dr. George Kikano.

The university will be using a pooled testing method where samples from multiple people are combined before being tested for the virus. If that sample comes back positive, all the individual samples in it are tested to see which one was infected. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pooled sampling procedures are being followed by the university.

The goal of surveillance testing for the university is to find out how widespread asymptomatic COVID-19 might be within the campus community...This will allow us to respond quickly to pockets of outbreak, with the goal of enabling CMU to remain open for in-person instruction...said Dr. Beth Bailey, professor and director of Health Services Research at the CMU College of Medicine. 

CMU is hoping to have 5% of the campus tested and will begin testing today. The university will continue testing for the next four weeks at least. The tests administered will use a nasal swap to collect fluid from the back of the nasal cavity.

To see more about the testing, click here. 

Source: CMU and Mid-Michigan Now