Hyundai Motor America Inc. said Tuesday it was ramping efforts to help expand drive-thru COVID-19 testing at U.S. hospitals.
The Fountain Valley-based automaker’s $4 million of grant money through its Hyundai Hope On Wheels initiative has helped fund drive-thru testing to some 22 hospitals in the U.S.
The update Tuesday about doubles on a previous donation of $2.2 million to children’s hospitals in a bid to help fund drive-thru testing at 11 hospitals.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels is the childhood cancer non-profit run by the automaker and its dealerships.
Hyundai also said it was donating 65,000 COVID-19 RT-PCR tests developed by a South Korea-based molecular diagnostics firm called Seegene. The test is said to be able to identify three genes that may make people more susceptible to COVID-19.
Hyundai Motor North America President and CEO José Muñoz noted in a statement, “A best practice that was crucial in South Korea’s handling of the coronavirus was drive-thru testing. This approach protects the healthcare workers and patients from the potential spread of the virus, while diagnosing those most in need.”
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