Photo: RODNAE Productions | Pexels
Once a week, Lori Janich drives to the Activities and Recreation Center on the University of California Davis (UC Davis) campus, reaches a Covid-19 testing station, swirls water in her mouth, spits into a tube, and leaves. Within a day, she receives her test result. She doesn't live in Davis, but her job as a licensed dental hygienist brings her there, so everything about the COVID testing process is free for her, as it is for all UC-Davis students, faculty members, and staffers; Davis city residents; local workers; and visitors. With a population of about 70,000, with an additional 15,000 on campus, Davis has administered more than 740,000 tests, and its COVID infection and test positivity rates have been much lower than in other regions in California. Healthy Davis Together's unique approach includes free saliva-based testing, vaccination, masks, and isolation or quarantine housing if needed. University of California researchers regularly test city wastewater for signs of SARS-CoV-2, and children in the local school district are routinely screened. About 200 UC Davis undergraduate health ambassadors raise awareness in the community.
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