ALBANY, N.Y. (WKBW) — SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras says SUNY has administered over 1 million COVID-19 tests since the start of the 2020-21 academic year.
As of Wednesday, a total of 1,001,367 COVID-19 tests have been administered to students, faculty, and staff, with a total positivity rate of .53 percent.
SUNY required all students to get tested prior to the start of the spring semester, in addition to weekly COVID-19 testing for students, faculty, and staff on campus.
“As the SUNY is the largest higher education system, regular COVID testing of our students, faculty, and staff helps us deal swiftly and aggressively with any emerging issues in a targeted way to limit spread and keep campuses safe,” said Chancellor Malatras. “Hitting one million tests wouldn’t be possible without the researching firepower of SUNY Upstate Medical and Quadrant Biosciences, which gave us the world’s number one ranked saliva test—an easy to administer and less intrusive test—which detects asymptomatic cases. Our ability to scale this vital testing across our campuses over the past several months has paid dividends because as I travel to campuses and I meet with our students, they are happy to be back, and they want to keep it that way. Testing is a part of campus life for now, and it provides us with the evidence we need to keep our students safe—our first priority above all else. With our additional capacity, SUNY will also continue to help other community partners in need access our saliva test as well.”
Chancellor Malatras added that once the new laboratory is constructed at the University at Buffalo, SUNY can conduct 350,000 COVID-19 tests per week.
You can track COVID-19 cases at SUNY campuses by clicking here.
