UCSD begins testing its students for COVID-19 | Gary Robbins

UC San Diego says it got off to a solid start during its first week of mass testing students for the novel coronavirus, with more than 300 undergraduates volunteering for the program by late Thursday. The figure could rise to around 500 — the goal for the week — when Friday’s figures are calculated.The university hopes to test up to 5,000 of its residential students during a three-week period. The so-called “Return to Learn” project is part of an effort to largely open the campus to in-person classes during the fall quarter, which begins in September.UCSD is the first major research university in the U.S. to begin mass testing students for a virus that has killed nearly 90,000 people nationwide. Students must volunteer for the self-administered tests, which generally take less than 10 minutes to complete. Results are typically available with 24 hours.Campus officials are using social media and word-of-mouth campaigns to recruit students for the program, which might be offered to all of UCSD’s 65,000 students, faculty and staff if it proves to be successful.Read more: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-05-05/uc-san-diego-to-mass-test-its-students-for-the-novel-coronavirus