Thompson said the federal government chose the UW-System for the six-week program because it was impressed with how COVID-19 cases have been handled on campuses.

“This COVID-19 virus is spreading tremendously fast and very aggressive across the state of Wisconsin,” Thompson said “The University of Wisconsin has been leading the way in testing students and we’ve been able to drive down the positivity rate on our campuses.”

Around 250,000 rapid tests are being provided by the government hoping to identify people who may have the virus faster.

“We’re reaching out to serve all the people, if we can test them and find those individuals that are super-spreaders and test positive, get them quarantined, we can have a tremendous impact in driving down this terrible spike,” Thompson said.

Next week, testing will begin at UWM locations in Waukesha and Washington County.