JAX to provide widescale COVID-19 testing in Connecticut
By Sarah Laskowski

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), in partnership with the State of Connecticut, announced today that it is expanding its COVID-19 testing capacity from 550 tests per day to 20,000 tests per day, between now and early July, for Connecticut residents.
This increased capacity builds upon the Laboratory’s ongoing COVID-19 testing collaborations with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and more than 30 Connecticut-based hospitals and health care facilities. In addition to continuing to run tests for symptomatic patients and health care providers, JAX will now provide testing that will enable hospitals to resume surgeries and procedures that have been postponed, and additional testing to support Governor Lamont’s reopening strategy.
“The Jackson Laboratory stepped up from the beginning to assist our state with testing capacity and we are incredibly fortunate to have such a great partner with our state. This latest partnership will increase testing capacity, providing greater access to impacted communities where we need to be targeting our efforts,” said Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.
The first phase of this new testing capacity will focus on key cohorts of at-risk and vulnerable populations in Connecticut, including nursing home residents, patients whose surgeries have been placed on hold, first responders, State and municipal employees, and urban high-risk and low-income groups.
“The Jackson Laboratory is committed to helping resolve the coronavirus outbreak as rapidly as possible. Our expertise in human genomics and mammalian genetics positions us to partner with other experts in infrastructure, academia, business, and government to quickly deal with the evolving public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Edison Liu, M.D.Conducts research focused on the functional genomics of breast cancer through an exploration of the entire genomic space.Edison T. Liu, M.D. , president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory. “We are immensely proud to provide this critical expanded testing for the State of Connecticut. This is in direct alignment with the Laboratory’s nonprofit humanitarian mission and we consider it our duty as a member of the Connecticut community to contribute in this time of need.”
How does testing work?
There is so much confusion around COVID-19. What are the symptoms? How do you know if you should get tested? What is the test like? And what happens behind the scenes? This short video will give highlights of the process.