COVID Test Preps for UNL

Emma Krab Author

02/13/2022 Added

2 Plays

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Audio Segment Feature finalist in the 2021-2022 National Broadcasting Society’s National Undergraduate Student Electronic Media Competition

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[00:00:00.200]It takes a village to raise a child.
[00:00:03.050]If that's true,
[00:00:04.240]what does it take to raise up the safety of a university?
[00:00:07.740]This spring semester,
[00:00:09.100]this was the question answered
[00:00:10.740]by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
[00:00:12.837][woman in background] You're going to insert the straw...
[00:00:16.980]On January 11th, the university announced
[00:00:19.640]required COVID-19 saliva testing
[00:00:21.970]before the semester began.
[00:00:23.890]Doon Loi had eight weeks to prepare her lab.
[00:00:27.150]It's a lot of sleepless nights.
[00:00:29.960]As the microbiology diagnostics lab manager,
[00:00:33.070]Loi's lab tested about 150 samples a week.
[00:00:36.750]Now, the university expected 20,000.
[00:00:40.470]That's an increase of nearly 13,000%.
[00:00:43.580]Think about it.
[00:00:44.413]When you woke up at 4,
[00:00:45.300]if you think about it, how is this gonna work?
[00:00:48.160]Pre-med freshman Libby Bash also noticed the time crunch.
[00:00:52.060]They didn't even have the IT set up.
[00:00:53.830]Bash became one of the many students
[00:00:55.930]brought into the lab to help coordinate re-entry testing.
[00:00:58.960]Like, the IT systems set up
[00:01:00.470]for us at least to, like, scan in the samples
[00:01:03.450]until like a week before we actually got real samples.
[00:01:06.100]Loi faced staffing issues and equipment problems.
[00:01:09.250]The problem is not just like,
[00:01:10.880]okay, I want to use a 50 mil tool,
[00:01:13.440]but what other universities are using.
[00:01:15.510]As the time came closer,
[00:01:17.120]she found herself battling other universities
[00:01:19.630]as companies ran out of products.
[00:01:22.360]The problem is not just that,
[00:01:24.190]because of...
[00:01:26.080]they don't even have to, to sell to you.
[00:01:29.272][man in background] So basically,
[00:01:30.105]you gotta use that straw...
[00:01:32.430]Over a month later, students still line
[00:01:34.780]up at saliva collection sites throughout campus.
[00:01:37.900]Spring re-entry testing is over,
[00:01:39.970]replaced with smaller rounds of random testing,
[00:01:42.740]and Loi uses the extra time for well-deserved shuteye.
[00:01:46.810]This is the first week ever
[00:01:48.009]I feel like I can sleep better.
[00:01:49.750]Bash says she is also thankful
[00:01:52.060]for a little more crucial free time.
[00:01:54.340]Honestly, it works with my schedule
[00:01:56.000]'cause I'm... I'm kind of busy,
[00:01:57.890]like, all the time,
[00:01:58.723]and I'm involved in a lot of things.
[00:02:00.210]This whole job has been like a dream.
[00:02:02.610]Over the spring re-entry period,
[00:02:04.440]Loi's team constantly clocked 12 hour work days.
[00:02:07.730]They tested more than 70,000 samples,
[00:02:10.352]including some from Grant Klein.
[00:02:13.021]I think it was smart that we had
[00:02:14.390]three rounds of testing.
[00:02:16.150]Klein, a freshman,
[00:02:17.730]praised the university's ability to protect students
[00:02:20.440]without being too invasive.
[00:02:22.139]I think UNL has done
[00:02:23.010]a pretty exceptional job.
[00:02:24.400]For a child, a village.
[00:02:26.600]For the safety of a university,
[00:02:28.820]thousands of tests,
[00:02:29.960]a diverse team,
[00:02:31.070]and a common purpose to push through.
[00:02:33.660]That's what it takes.
[00:02:35.750]From KRNU, I'm Emma Krab reporting.

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