Students and employees on the Baylor are being required to have a COVID-19 test once per week as part of a program to limit the spread of the virus. Baylor has opened its own COVID-19 testing lab with help from Dallas-based My Labs Direct to handle the volume of tests.
The molecular PCR lab at the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative will also allow for a quick turn-around for those tests.
My Labs Direct is operating three testing sites on the Baylor Campus with the goal of processing more than 3,000 tests per day. "The system we created is completely automated. The students come to the testing site, which is scheduled by the University," said My Labs Direct founder Justin Simons. "They're presented with a QR code and they're presented with a bar code that they scan at check-in."
My Labs Direct had originally be contracted by Baylor to test student-athletes for COVID-19. That program later expanded to include other students. When the University decided to require COVID-19 tests at the start of this semester, the company stepped up its presence on campus.
"At the end of last semester things were going well enough to where the university contacted us and said 'we have a desire to open up to 100 percent and try bring things back to normal here on campus'. This is very innovative. I think that's a testament to Baylor University," Simons said.
Students should be able to get their test results back within 24 hours. Baylor will have the ability to test 100% of the student population each week. The lab will also have the capacity to process tests from the surrounding community.
"This partnership also aligns with Baylor's aspirations to be a Research 1/Tier 1 university, providing vital infrastructure and developing opportunities for faculty research and internships, practicums and business training programs for our undergraduate and graduate students," said Baylor Provost Dr. Nancy Brickhouse.