LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- From people to wastewater, the city of Louisville is expanding its COVID-19 testing, and the goal is to test more than 1,000 people per day.
In the last few months, Norton Healthcare has tested nearly 15,000 people for COVID-19, which includes a testing site outside Norton Audubon Hospital.Â
"We are doing our community testing," said Allison Ledford with Norton Healthcare. "Some people are required to come as part of their pre-admission testing process to go in for their surgical procedures."
This week, grim news from Mayor Greg Fischer included eight COVID-19-related deaths announced in one day.
"For folks that think we are passed this, I want this to be a real wake-up call," he said.Â
Fischer also announced the creation of the task force and partnership with the University of Louisville School of Medicine which will be "in charge with coordinating all of the testing efforts going on in our city."
With restaurants and malls reopening this week, Fischer said that requires a game plan.
"We have to keep this disease boxed in so we can successfully move forward safely," he said.
Bill Altman, a former health care executive hired to develop and implement the city-wide testing plan, said the partnership with U of L includes research that goes deeper than just testing humans.
"As we move toward reopening the economy, it is really important to have an integrated testing plan across the entire city," Altman said. "And it's in that research that we are also able to measure the presence of coronavirus in the waste water ... in conjunction with MSD."
Altman shared what crucial information testing the wastewater will provide.
"It lets you look at trends in different geographies, different sections of the city of what is happening with the virus," he said.
The U of L School of Medicine will also test people across four different parts of the city for respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus and its antibodies.Â
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