By Neil Doyle
NORMAL – The University of Illinois received a $500,000 donation from Rivian to support the recently opened SHIELD Illinois COVID-19 testing lab at Illinois State University.
SHIELD labs process the U of I’s saliva-based COVID-19 test. The lab at ISU opened in January and is currently processing 5,000 tests a week from Rivian. This donation will be used to cover the cost of equipment and staff that helped launch the lab, according to a news release.
“The proximity of the Normal lab to our facility means the turnaround time for our workers’ COVID-19 test results has dropped from 36 to 24 hours,” said Jessica Siron, director of environmental, health and safety at Rivian. “This gives us the ability to respond faster to a positive test result and trace it, which allows us to stay on schedule safely. Rivian would like to extend its deepest thanks to both universities and their Boards of Trustees for standing up these efforts.”
“Illinois State University is an example of a lab partner who stepped up to make its community safer,” said Ron Watkins, managing director of SHIELD Illinois, a unit created by the U of I System to share testing throughout the state. “We are grateful for ISU’s partnership and diligence, and the work of ISU’s COVID-19 testing coordinator John Baur for guiding their efforts.”
In addition, testing will begin soon for Rivian’s workforce in California through a separate agreement with Shield T3, a university-related organization deploying the saliva test outside of Illinois.
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
