On Mar. 19, 2020, the Mayo Clinic announced it had significantly expanded its capacity to test clinical samples for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

With new equipment that went online Mar. 17, Mayo Clinic Laboratories had the capacity to process COVID-19 test samples from all Mayo Clinic sites. In addition, it had begun processing test samples from its clients across Minnesota, including eight major health systems.