UW Madison to expand COVID-19 testing this spring

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - University of Wisconsin- Madison announced Thursday that they are expanding their COVID-19 testing efforts this spring.

UW will partner with Shield T3, a subsidiary of the University of Illinois System, to provide more frequent and regular testing for all students and employees on campus.

The group will be able to add 10,000 additional tests per day at UW-Madison to ensure all undergraduate students are tested twice per week. Employees and graduate students working on or visiting campus will be required to get tested regularly. There will also be additional testing sites started up on campus for students and employees to submit their saliva samples for quick results, the university noted.

A mobile app will also be available for people to access their test results and make sure they are up to date with their campus testing requirements.

UW- Madison will have a hybrid model of learning for the spring semester, with a mix of virtual and in-person classes.

The university continued, saying they will keep providing isolation and quarantine spaces for University Houses, as well as contact tracing for all employees and students.

The new testing plans are distinct from the announcement the UW System made on Wednesday that the system is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The system’s announcement involved providing surge testing using Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests. UW- Madison will receive a portion of these tests, the university clarified, which will allow it to do expanded testing over the next several weeks.

Shield T3 was formed to work more on an accurate, rapid COVID-19 test that is saliva-based. UW- Madison will also be incorporating that test into its existing testing program on campus.

So far this fall, UW- Madison has worked with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which teamed up with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene for nasal swab testing. The two labs will continue to provide up to 12,000 tests weekly to UW- Madison during the spring semester.