{"id":128819,"date":"2020-10-16T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T19:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=128819"},"modified":"2020-10-16T12:05:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-16T22:05:25","slug":"uh-opens-covid19-test-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/16\/uh-opens-covid19-test-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"<abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> opens COVID-19 testing laboratory"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><figure id=\"attachment_128822\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-128822\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-covid-testing.jpg\" alt=\"medical staff conduct covid test on fireman\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-128822\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-covid-testing.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-covid-testing-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-covid-testing-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-128822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><abbr title=\"John A. Burns School of Medicine\">JABSOM<\/abbr> medical staff conduct COVID-19 testing on a first responder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> has begun operations at its new COVID-19 testing laboratory in partnership with the City and County of Honolulu that will expand testing capacity for vulnerable populations on <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/tmclinicallab.jabsom.hawaii.edu\/\">Tropical Medicine Clinical Laboratory (<abbr>TMCL<\/abbr>)<\/a>, based at <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/jabsom.hawaii.edu\/\">John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (<abbr>JABSOM<\/abbr>), will begin conducting COVID-19 tests <strong>by appointment only<\/strong> from its <span aria-label=\"Kakaako\">Kaka&#699;ako<\/span> clinic beginning Monday, October 19. <abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> will augment <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> capacity to provide testing for homeless and uninsured individuals that face unique barriers to accessing testing for the virus that causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Related <em>Â鶹´«Ã½News<\/em> story:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/05\/19\/uh-lab-covid-testing\/\"><abbr>UH<\/abbr> lab to serve as hub for <abbr>COVID-19<\/abbr> testing innovation<\/a>, May 19, 2020<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> is also collaborating with seven Community Health Centers across <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> to process tests for underserved, uninsured and front-line workers who may require multiple tests for safety at their workplace.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/tmclinicallab.jabsom.hawaii.edu\/lab-services\/request-testing\/\">View list of test sites<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>For an appointment, please call the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Clinics at <span aria-label=\"Kakaako\">Kaka&#699;ako<\/span> at (808) 692-1310. For more information, <a href=\"https:\/\/tmclinicallab.jabsom.hawaii.edu\/lab-services\/request-testing\/\">visit the website<\/a>. Per <abbr>UH<\/abbr> guidelines, anyone coming onto the campus must wear a face cloth covering.<\/strong> In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, <abbr>JABSOM<\/abbr> is not open to the public and is a smoke-free campus. The COVID-19 test results can be expected between 24&#8211;48 hours and will be shared with the State Department of Health. Please note the <abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> is not a State-approved Safe Travels pre-flight testing site and will not perform pre-travel testing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This partnership with the John A. Burns School of Medicine and the City and County of Honolulu will provide testing to those who might otherwise not have access to it,&rdquo; said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. &ldquo;This virus doesn\u2019t discriminate, and as we continue to open up our economy, we need to keep testing to know where in our community the virus is hiding. The John A. Burns School of Medicine, the only lab associated with an institution of higher learning in <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, adds testing capacity in an extremely crucial time in this pandemic.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The new lab is being supported with up to $3.9 million in <abbr title=\"Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security\">CARES<\/abbr> funds from the City and County of Honolulu. The partnership was structured in phases, with $1.2 million being made immediately available to stand up the lab in the first phase, and then pay for tests on an as-needed basis in phases 2 and 3.<\/p>\n<p>Funding from the City and County of Honolulu served as foundational support to establish the lab and  will support capacity at the lab to process up to 100,000 COVID-19 tests annually. The <abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> will also lead research efforts to develop innovative approaches for less invasive and more cost effective COVID-19 testing.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_128825\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-128825\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-nerukar-vivek-speaking-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Vivek Nerurkar speaking at the podium\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-128825\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-nerukar-vivek-speaking-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-nerukar-vivek-speaking-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Manoa-jabsom-nerukar-vivek-speaking.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-128825\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vivek Nerurkar discusses COVID-19 testing capabilities at the Tropical Medicine Clinical Laboratory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> will operate out of <abbr>JABSOM<\/abbr>&#8216;s Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology led by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tmclinicallab.jabsom.hawaii.edu\/about\/leadership\/vivek-r-nerurkar-dmlt-msc-phd-principal-investigator\/\">Vivek Nerurkar<\/a><\/strong>, professor and chair, who will work alongside a leadership team that reflects <abbr>UH<\/abbr>&#8216;s extensive expertise in virology, bacteriology, parasitology and immunology. <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa associate professor of oceanography <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tmclinicallab.jabsom.hawaii.edu\/about\/leadership\/rosie-alegado-phd-community-liaison-lead\/\">Rosie Alegado<\/a><\/strong> is the community liaison lead for the <abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> and has been instrumental in this collaborative effort.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are deeply grateful to Mayor Caldwell for supporting the startup of our new testing lab. This not only enables us to help ensure adequate testing across <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span>, but we will be able to explore innovations in testing for COVID-19 that can remove barriers to pervasive testing for all,&rdquo; said <abbr>UH<\/abbr> President <strong>David Lassner<\/strong>. &ldquo;I especially want to credit Dr. Vivek Nerurkar and Dr. Rosie Alegado, whose dedication and perseverance has been remarkable in overcoming obstacles and hurdles that could never have been expected.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><abbr>TMCL<\/abbr> will utilize nucleic acid amplification tests (<abbr>NAAT<\/abbr>). The <abbr title=\"food and drug administration\">FDA<\/abbr>-authorized <abbr>NAAT<\/abbr> tests for <abbr title=\"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2\">SARS-CoV-2<\/abbr> meet the Emergency Use Authorization statutory standard, and based on the current available data, are highly accurate. <\/p>\n<p>Donate to the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/giving.uhfoundation.org\/funds\/12949604\">fund on COVID-19 research at <abbr>UH<\/abbr><\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uhfoundation.org\/give\/giving-opportunity\/covid-19\">Support the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Student Relief fund and COVID-19 research<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Tropical Medicine Clinical Lab will begin accepting COVID-19 tests from its <span aria-label=\"Kakaako\">Kaka&#699;ako<\/span> clinic beginning October 19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1411,1416,31,429,9],"class_list":["post-128819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-uh-helps","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-tropical-medicine-and-medical-microbiology","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128819"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128832,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128819\/revisions\/128832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}