Volunteers needed to prepare COVID-19 testing kits for Bay Area schools

Volunteers are desperately needed in the Bay Area to assemble coronavirus testing kits for schools.

A company called Predicine pivoted from cancer research to COVID-19 testing. Every week, they need 50,000 coronavirus tests kits assembled by volunteers.

RELATED: What to know about COVID-19 mutations

Everyone from couples celebrating an anniversary to boy scouts to Cal State East Bay students -- they've all offered to bag up the bar codes, a swab and a tube -- most bound for Bay Area schools.

Winston Kuo, CEO of infectious disease for Predicine, listed off the districts, "Milpitas Unified School District, Palo Alto, West Contra Costa, Dublin, Pittsburg Unified School District."

He said they test faculty, staff and students.

"Out of 650 tests administered through September 2, five had positive COVID results so we were able to work on next steps for those positive COVID cases," Sarah Lopez, spokesperson for Dublin Unified School District said.

RELATED: Lawmakers calling on FDA to lay out timeline for kids' COVID vaccine

Predicine's lab to handle school test results is in Hayward. So far they've processed 350,000 test kits.

The company sends staff directly to school campuses to do the testing, in some cases sending high school students home with kits to use. They've partnered with a non profit called Help Test Bay Area in a bid to round up more volunteers.

"To bridge the gap for data entry to doing testing so we have doctors, nurses, PAs and web designers to just someone down the street," Founder Juner Ryan Valencia said. "Everyone from every background coming together to help the community."

Since Predicine is struggling to hire the help they need, they are relying on volunteers through the nonprofit to keep accelerating school testing into the fall semester.

Those who want to volunteer can call: 510-329-3535.

Those who want to be hired can dial here: 510-514-3176

Having trouble loading the tracker above? Click here to open it in a new window. RELATED STORIES & VIDEOS:

• Map shows which counties can, can't reopen under reopening tiers
• Cheat sheet: What you can and can't do after being fully vaccinated
• How to register for a COVID-19 vaccine in every Bay Area county
• Map shows everywhere you can get a COVID-19 test in the Bay Area
• Interactive map shows what's closed and what's reopening in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Data tracker: Coronavirus cases, deaths, hospitalizations in every Bay Area county
• Third stimulus check calculator: See how much you could get
• COVID-19 Diaries: Personal stories of Bay Area residents during pandemic
• Get the latest updates on California EDD, stimulus checks, unemployment benefits
• Coronavirus origin: Where did COVID-19 come from?
• What is a COVID-19 genetic, antigen and antibody test?
• What does COVID-19 do to your body and why does it spread so easily?
• Coronavirus Timeline: Tracking major moments of COVID-19 pandemic in San Francisco Bay Area
• Coronavirus Doctor's Note: Dr. Alok Patel gives his insight into COVID-19 pandemic