FRESNO, California (KGPE) – Fresno County health officials will soon be able to test around 40 to 60 patients for COVID-19 using a Fresno State Laboratory.
The Jordan Agricultural Research Center is in the process of being converted into a testing lab. It is expected to be up and running next week.
“Generally people just want to know,” said Fresno County Health Department Dr. Rais Vohra. “You know, this is a very concerning illness.
This is the first testing facility in Fresno County.
“What we are doing is filling a huge void from this pandemic,” said Vohra.
Fresno County currently sends COVID-19 tests to either Tulare or Richmond, California labs where it can take five to six days to get results.
With the new facility, the Fresno Health Department expects to be able to finish dozens of tests within the same day that the tests are administered.
Getting them the answers they need about whether or not they have that COVID infection or not is really something that I think is a public service. And we need to make that as fast as possible.
Fresno County reached out to Fresno State asking to use the lab back in March.
“I cannot stress how much Fresno State has done to let us in here and actually use it,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Buddy Mendes.
Fresno State President Joseph Castro said it was an easy decision to make.
“As you know,” said Castro. “I regularly encourage our students, faculty and staff to be bold. This action by Fresno State to support our community is fully consistent with that philosophy. ”
The county will pay for the five health department technicians to run the lab. Vohra confident the community is on the right track back to a new normal.
“One of the prerequisites to getting on the road to recovery will be having a very agile and aggressive laboratory,” said Vohra. “So having a lab here in Fresno, assures to us that we will be able to check that off the list.”
The lab will be functional for an estimated 90 days. The clinics will still swab for the virus but the lab work will be done in at Fresno State’s facility.