UC San Diego begins comprehensive COVID-19 testing

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Thousands of students at UC San Diego are going to be tested for COVID -19. The first phase of the testing program began this week.

Dr. Robert Schooley who is part of the team overseeing the program said the goal is to test all 60,000 students, staff and faculty members on a recurring basis as the school goes back to In-person classes in the fall.

Students can collect the test kits and scan a unique bar code on the container through an app on their phone. That links the specimen to a personalized number and generates a time stamp.

The student or test subject will then swab the inside of their own nose, drop the swab in the container and leave it in a collection box to be picked up by program coordinators.

Test results are available the next day. Anyone who tests positive will be notified by the university.

UC San Diego will also set up a system for contact tracing so that people who came into contact with an infected person are receive notification by the university.

University officials said the testing program will put the campus in a better position to resume in-person classes in the fall.

This program is believed to be the first of its kind at an American university.