Jared Auclair

Experts at Northeastern University in Massachusetts have predicted that the transmissibility of XBB.1.5 will spark another wave of illness in the US — although it is not expected to overwhelm hospitals and emergency rooms.

But not so fast — make sure you check the expiration date on that kit before you use it, says Jared Auclair, director of the Biopharmaceutical Analysis Training Lab at Northeastern University, who joined GBH Morning Edition host Paris Alston to answer questions about COVID tests. 

An associate dean at Northeastern University who runs a COVID-19 testing program questions whether the scramble to get tested is really necessary, especially as people face long waits in the cold.

“We are looking for the omicron variant. Actually, we take a pretty robust approach to our testing program,” said Jared Auclair, who runs the COVID-19 testing program at Northeastern University.

Northeastern University’s coronavirus testing lab in Burlington, Massachusetts, gave NBC10 Boston an inside look.

Inside Northeastern University’s Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, a delivery cart with hundreds of COVID-19 tests from the Boston campus arrives every few hours. Jared Auclair, the Director of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, at Northeastern University said, “Since school started, we’ve been averaging about 5,500 tests per day.”