The unhealthy air blanketing much of Oregon has caused Oregon State University to postpone the latest round of its door-to-door coronavirus testing.
In OSU’s TRACE project, researchers have been canvassing neighborhoods offering free tests for COVID-19. It’s a way to determine the prevalence of the virus in a given community.
Four rounds of door-to-door sampling in Corvallis has given researchers a look into trends in the city that hosts the university’s main campus.
A fifth round of prevalence testing in Corvallis was scheduled last weekend. But the hazardous wildfire smoke choking the region put those plans on pause. The testing was re-scheduled for this week…but when the smoke didn’t clear up as quickly as hoped, the school delayed it again. OSU says it hopes to reschedule the testing for later this month.
The TRACE team has spread out to several Oregon cities, including Newport, Bend and Hermiston. But the bulk of its work has occurred in Corvallis.