LINCOLN- The Nebraska Athletic Department announced Thursday that they have received 1,200 rapid antigen tests, making it possible to tell athletes if they have the virus within an hour. The rest of the university relies on the $27 million coronavirus testing program to provide free tests to students.

Over the summer, UNL officials heard about a saliva-based rapid test that only requires students to spit in a plastic tube which makes the process much less invasive. This test can be processed by equipment that is commonly found in all university testing labs. The University of Colorado-Boulder said they could administer these tests for less than $5.

If UNL could harness all equipment necessary for these tests, they could yield 1,000 tests per day, which is five times the capacity for Test Nebraska. UNL has not received the 'go-ahead' from experts, UNMC and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department do not recommend this type of testing.

UNL students account for half of the new cases in Lancaster County since classes resumed in August.

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