LUBBOCK, Texas — As of Monday, Lubbock is home to the only lab in Texas capable of testing for COVID-19, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The lab, part of the Department of Environmental Toxicology at Texas Tech University (and located at Reese Center), has only tested one or two cases, according to the DSHS, which came back negative.
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Chris Van Deusen, the Director of Media Relations with DSHS told sister station KXAN that the other nine public health labs in the state have received testing kits but are going through a validation process to ensure accuracy.
He said the labs should be online and operational later in the week.
Prior to the Lubbock lab becoming operational, all testing kits from Texas were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control headquarters in Atlanta.
KXAN’s Eric Cargile contributed to this report.