State teams up with UofA to provide tests for health care workers

Partnership promises to produce 250,000 tests

PHOENIX, Ariz (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has announced a new partnership between the state and the University of Arizona to provide antibody tests for 250,000 health care workers and first responders on the frontline of the battle against coronavirus.

The state and university are working together to get federal approval to move forward with testing. The new tests check for antibodies in an individual's blood and determines if they've been exposed to coronavirus, had the virus, and recovered. The University plans to administer the tests.

“Antibody testing is not a cure-all, but learning more about it is an important step to identifying community exposure, helping us make decisions about how we protect our citizens, and getting us to the other side of this pandemic more quickly,” said Governor Ducey .

“Our health care workers and first responders are on the front lines, and my top priority is to identify ways to protect them and I am eager to get this underway.” he added.

University of Arizona President Bobby Robbins said testing is the key to beating the potentially deadly virus.

“Governor Ducey is taking the next step in this battle by providing important antibody tests for vulnerable frontline workers,” said Robbins.

“The more testing that is done, the clearer the road map to recovery. As a premier research institution in the country, the UofA is ready and poised to provide this service to the state of Arizona.”

There's no word on how long it might take the federal government to sign off on the state's new testing plan.