Rush University Medical Center will open an advanced molecular laboratory to detect new coronavirus variants through a $3.5 million contract with the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The Regional Innovative Public Health Laboratory will collect and analyze COVID-19 samples from hospitals across Chicago to study. The goal is to detect new virus strains and learn which existing strains are spreading where to aid public health efforts to control the city's outbreak.
Chicago-based Rush won the contract in December and announced the effort Feb. 11. The medical center said the lab should be fully operational by March.