Gates-Funded Program Will Soon Offer Home-Testing Kits for New Coronavirus

March 8th, 2020

Gates and coronavirus over here. Gates and coronavirus over there. Gates and coronavirus everywhere.

See: Canada’s National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg

The initiative grew out of the Seattle Flu Study, a 2-year-old research project based at the University of Washington to track the spread of infectious diseases like influenza. Funded with $20 million from Bill Gates’ private office, the project recruited thousands of volunteers and sent them self-test kits. The focus has now shifted entirely to the new coronavirus, using similar methods to aid the public-health response.

When the expanded testing system is up and running, people in the Seattle area who think they might be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific name for the new coronavirus, can fill out a questionnaire online. If their symptoms are consistent, they can request a test kit, which will be delivered to their home within two hours. The swabs will be collected and delivered to the UW lab.

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