FARMINGTON, Conn. (WTNH)– The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX-GM) in Farmington will begin providing coronavirus diagnostic testing for Connecticut residents.

Governor Ned Lamont applauded the research institution’s announcement on Thursday that they are partnering with Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), UConn Health, and Hartford HealthCare to provide the state with additional coronavirus diagnostic testing capacity.

JAX-GM’s participation will enable the DPH to ramp up its diagnostic testing capabilities as it’s estimated with its current staff and equipment, it can test 100-150 samples per day.

“Here in Connecticut, we are doing everything we can to protect our residents from the spread of coronavirus while ensuring our testing capabilities help prevent further spread of the virus. Today’s partnership with The Jackson Laboratory, the Department of Public Health, UConn Health, and Hartford HealthCare will provide diagnostic testing at a time when we need it most. By having an increased testing capacity at our disposal, Connecticut will be able to be more proactive against this illness. This collaborative effort is also a reminder that we are all in this together and so many are stepping up in our state in a big way.”

Governor Ned Lamont

“The Jackson Laboratory is honored to be a part of the State of Connecticut’s coordinated response to the coronavirus pandemic. As a nonprofit biomedical research institute, The Jackson Laboratory has been a leader in research to improve human health for more than 90 years. We view our participation in this unprecedented health crisis – in this case by using our clinical laboratory in Farmington for COVID-19 testing – as our humanitarian duty. At our Bar Harbor, Maine location, we are also producing special mouse models that can be used for COVID-19 research in the hope of providing the scientific community with a critical resource needed to stem the current outbreak.”

Charles Lee, Ph.D., FACMG, director and professor, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine

This will now not only allow the DPH to diagnose patients who have the coronavirus, but also help researchers learn more about the virus and enable Connecticut to test more people, faster.

“It’s critical in the state of Connecticut that we bring on as many sources of testing as possible,” said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, Uconn Health CEO.

“With this kind of collaboration, this kind of partnership, this kind of forward thinking by our state leaders is going to position us differently as we go forward,” said Dr. Ajay Kumar, Hartford Healthcare Evp and Chief Clinical Officer.

JAX-GM expects to start receiving samples and begin the diagnostic testing next week. For more details, click here