HOUSTON (WBAP/KLIF News) – A Houston teenager is gaining national attention for his efforts on helping getting rapid COVID-19 tests to his community.
18-year-old high school senior Taft Foley III, who is also a certified EMT, co-founded a mobile lab that can provide rapid COVID-19 test results within 15 minutes.
He said the decision to create the lab was born out of frustrations he experienced while waiting in long lines to get tested in Houston, which was a requirement for his job in a local emergency room.
Texas Mobile Medical Labs is CLIA certified and operates in a van and tent outside a community center in the Post Oak area, according to KRTK TV.
Forbes reports Foley and his team have served about 500 individuals and businesses so far and uses the revenue from each test to provide free tests for Houston’s veterans, senior citizens and homeless.
Foley, among the top in his class, is hoping to attend college at either Harvard, Princeton, Stanford or Yale.
We honor two young Ameri-CANS:
Anika Chebrolu who won the top prize – $25,000 at this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge. She discovered a molecule that many hope could lead to a potential cure.
Taft Foley who created a mobile medical lab that offers rapid tests and results. pic.twitter.com/gDiZsKlve0
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) October 20, 2020
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So far, more than eight million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and almost 220,000 have died.
The World Health Organization reports the virus has killed 1.1. million people across the globe.
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