‘Crash course’: Med student in Detroit help test for virus

In this Friday, April 24, 2020 photo, Wayne State University medical school student Michael Moentmann swabs Leon Wheeler's nostril at a COVID-19 testing center in Detroit. Moentmann, 23, had planned to observe surgeries this spring but then a highly contagious virus disrupted everything. So he's volunteering in one of America's hardest-hit cities, testing police officers, firefighters, bus drivers and other essential workers who keep Detroit running. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

DETROIT (AP) — A fleet of medical students has been vital in Detroit’s response to the coronavirus and COVID-19.

Wearing gowns and face shields, the students are spending hours swabbing people and running tests.

The results determine whether key Detroit personnel, like police and firefighters, can work or must stay home to recover.

John Zervos of Henry Ford Health System says he recruited roughly 80 students from medical schools at Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

Lucia Luna-Wong is a fourth-year medical student at Wayne State. She says the coronavirus is a “crash course in public health.”