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UVA Health develops its own test for COVID-19

The University of Virginia says its one of the few institutions to have engineered its own test.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Virginia health system has developed and deployed its own testing for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. 

UVA Health announced in a news release that it had begun testing on Wednesday. The development comes as Virginia and the rest of the nation faces a shortage of supplies that have limited who can get tested. 

Eric Swensen, a spokesperson for UVA’s Health System said the tests will speed up the testing process in the Charlottesville area.

“It’s gonna give us and health care workers around the country a better picture of what’s actually going on,” said Swensen.

Swensen said the research team is working to ramp that number to 80 tests a day by this weekend and increase supplies over time.

The goal is to provide people with test results within 24 hours.

Swensen said they’re facing a big challenge: the supplies needed to make more tests are running short throughout the nation.

“A lot of it is just trying to find the supplies, find what you need to get a test like this up and running that’s been so much of their work and they’ve had a lot of help. There have been so many people who have helped them assemble things they need to make this test a reality,” said Swensen.

For now, UVA expects to have the capacity for testing at its hospital and clinics, but the university said it's working to “ramp-up to support broader community testing.” 

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