SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Over the course of the past week, KELOLAND News has been taking an in-depth look at the South Dakota Department of Health’s at-home COVID-19 testing process. Today, we spoke with Alexander Pastuszak, Chief Clinical Officer of Vault Health, the company supplying at-home testing for the State of South Dakota.

“We’re a life sciences company focused on improving clinical research and clinical care,” said Pastuszak, describing the three-year-old company which has been offering PCR COVID-19 testing since spring of 2020.

Pastuszak explained the benefits of the Vault process. “You have an accessible test where the sample can be collected virtually anywhere — and then it’s performed by a laboratory.” Pastuszak says this lab-tested PCR testing still remains the “best in class” testing.

Vault has two partner labs called Infinity Biologix that they use for COVID-19 testing. Infinity Biologix has two testing sites, one in New Jersey, and one in Minnesota. Pastuszak says that once a South Dakotan completes their test and mails it in, it will go to the Minnesota facility for testing.

In terms of volume, Pastuszak says that these two laboratories run between 25,000 and 75,000 tests per day on average, “with the upper limit of that exceeding 100,000 tests a day.”

In his interview with KELOLAND News, Pastuszak further broke down the differences between PCR and antigen tests, as well as the details of the Infinity Biologix testing process.

You can see how the Vault Health testing procedure fits in with the rest of the DOH in-home testing process by following along with this story tomorrow on-air and online, as we show you the process as we completed it from start to finish.