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BEAUMONT — A COVID-19 testing site at no cost to patients is open on the Lamar University campus.

The Curative COVID-19 testing kiosk is open in the parking lot of the Montagne Center for the entire community through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Curative has placed these kiosks across the country offering widespread access to testing,” said Bert Wagner, executive director, Campus Operations. “When the company asked if LU could be used as a testing site we didn’t hesitate to offer space. We see our partnership with Curative as a win-win for the community in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Curative offers an FDA-authorized test that produces accurate results delivered electronically to individuals within 48 hours upon receipt at the labs.

Trained healthcare workers at the kiosk will provide self-collection kits and then direct and observe patients collecting their samples.

“Curative’s self-collected oral fluid swab COVID-19 PCR test offers a painless, simple option at no cost to patients,” said Natalie Greene, Growth Manager at Curative.

“We ask patients not to eat, drink or smoke 20 minutes prior to sample collection, cough deeply three times and then swab the inside of each cheek, upper and lower gums, underneath and top of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Patients then drop the swab in the collection container and the test is completed.”

Curative oral swab testing has a 90% accuracy rate, meaning the test will correctly return a positive result for 90% of people who have the disease and will return a negative result — a false-negative — for 10% of the people who have the disease and should have tested positive. By way of comparison, the nasal swab test is typically 80% accurate.

“We are delighted to offer this testing site and broaden testing accessibility across Southeast Texas,” said Wagner. “Our hope is that everyone in the community who needs testing will utilize the Curative site, freeing up our health care system to treat those who are suffering from the disease.”

Curative has over 8,000 testing sites across the United States and also offers antibody testing at select locations.

Lamar University’s Student Health Center also has COVID-19 testing for Lamar University students. See the Student Health Center for more information.

For more information about Curative testing, how to collect a sample for testing and how to receive results visit https://support.curative.com/.