A number of University of Iowa employees temporarily reassigned have helped the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) near some milestones related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The employees helped fill critical roles in the testing process over the summer as the SHL expanded its capabilities to meet explosive demand for testing. The lab is fast approaching having conducted half a million COVID-19 tests since February and currently averages 5,000 tests per day: 2,000 in its molecular lab and more than 3,000 in its Test Iowa lab.