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Cal Poly is now using in-house COVID-19 testing methods, and has transitioned away from third-party, Avellino Labs, which administered nasal swab testing.
Microbiology Professor Dr. Pat Fidopiastas said Cal Poly’s saliva lab tests multiple samples in batches. If a batch tests positive, they can test to find which individual in that batch has the coronavirus.
“The saliva group will get five individual saliva samples and they’ll pull them into a single, and then they’ll get that reaction, and so if they get a positive, they just have to deconvolute those five and test individually.” Fidopiastas said.
The efficiency of the batch testing process and the fact that testing is in-house, makes the turnaround time for test results a lot faster.