BYU-Hawaii providing free COVID-19 testing to students and staff through April
Brigham Young University-Hawaii is providing free COVID-19 testing for the university’s 3,200 students and staff through April.
The school, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said its “end-to-end COVID-19 testing” program is part of a “comprehensive pandemic response.”
“Keeping our BYU-Hawaii and Koolauloa community safe is paramount,” BYU-Hawaii President John Kauwe III said in a news release. “Scientific data continues to prove the critical role of testing, especially among young populations, in managing the spread of COVID-19.”
The university has hired Utah-based Nomi Health to administer the saliva-based PCR tests over the next four months in an effort to mitigate spread of the coronavirus on campus as COVID-19 rages out of control on the mainland. The program can scale to up to 5,000 tests per week.
BYU-Hawaii is requiring weekly testing for all faculty, staff and students working and studying on campus or using on-campus resources.
“BYU is a trailblazer as the first higher education institution in Hawaii to roll out such a comprehensive program for COVID testing,” Mark Newman, co-founder and CEO of Nomi Health, said in the release. “We applaud President Kauwe for his quick and thorough response in service to his community, particularly given the university’s rich international population and Oahu’s position as the gateway to Hawaii.”
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Students and staff, as well as employees of the Polynesian Cultural Center, also operated by the church, can register online for testing at byuh.edu/covid-19/seasider-testing. Test results are expected via email and text within 24 hours.