EDINBURG - UTRGV's COVID-19 testing sites were available to the public just last week, originally testing only 60 patients a day and having an influx of 35,000 calls.

UTRGV's virology lab received its own "CLIA" certification, short for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, and is now able to tell patients right away that they need to go visit a doctor if they've tested positive for coronavirus.

"Without being CLIA certified, all I could suggest to the per patient was that 'Hey you might be sick, you might want to go get another test and get checked,” says Dr. John Thomas, an assistant professor and virologist at UTRGV.

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