UW Oshkosh will be opening a new COVID-19 testing center at Culver Family Welcome Center Nov. 9 with new Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests that provide results in 15 minutes to help combat the surge of cases in the region.

UW System campuses will serve as the first “surge testing” sites for the new rapid-results COVID-19 test, UW System President Tommy Thompson announced at a virtual news conference today.

Federal surge testing provides additional temporary federal support to areas that are experiencing a spike in coronavirus cases.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with UW schools to set up new COVID-19 testing centers.

The UW System received 250,000 Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests, Chancellor Andy Leavitt announced in a campuswide email today.

“The testing centers on the UW campuses will be the first of their kind in the country to conduct free surge testing with the BinaxNOW tests,” Leavitt said in the email.

The new Culver testing center will be operated by eTrueNorth under contract with the federal government.

The Culver testing site will be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The center will be open for a minimum of four to six weeks and administer about 800 tests per day to combat the surge of cases in the area.

BinaxNOW tests will be available at no cost to students, staff, faculty and their families by appointment through doineedacovid19test.com.

The Culver Center testing site will complement the testing site in the Albee Hall gym. UWO residence hall students will continue mandatory weekly testing at the Albee testing center.

The Albee Hall testing center is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. by appointment through the MyPrevea app.

The Albee testing center will expand its hours Nov. 23, and 24 to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The testing center will be open 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 25 to expand testing the week before Thanksgiving break.

The Albee center will be closed Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.

“From the moment students started to move-in to our residence halls in early September, UW Oshkosh has been testing for COVID-19 on the Oshkosh campus,” Leavitt said in the email. “I am proud of the work so many of you have done to ensure the success of our testing program and to assist in the quick setup of the new site.”