University Of Arizona Scientists Manufacturing Coronavirus Test Kits

By Nicholas Gerbis
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 - 6:42pm
Updated: Thursday, March 26, 2020 - 7:41am
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The coronavirus pandemic has severely strained key medical resources, including testing supplies.

Scientists at the University of Arizona are pitching in to help.

Scientists at the UA Health Sciences Biorepository have begun making specimen collection kits for coronavirus testing.

The kits consist of a flexible Nylon or Dacron swab and a medium that preserves the sample.

Using a formula from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UA's interdisciplinary BIO5 Institute has made five liters of media, enough for 1,600 kits.

The biorepository, which specializes in collecting, cataloging and distributing human biological samples, has enough supplies to make 7,000 kits this week.

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