BY JENNIFER FLYNN AND GRACE ANDERSON
Plant Disease Clinic clients usually have perishable samples that are often large and/or difficult to mail. With about half, the state’s population living or working within an hour’s drive of the lab, hand delivery of samples has always been a popular option. Then there was COVID-19. For those of us working in person, March 17, 2020, greeted us with locked doors.
The University of MN was “closed”. What to do? What were the other service labs doing? Adapting. Veterinary Medical Center - OPEN. Soil Testing Lab - OPEN. Plant Disease Clinic - OPEN. The era of no-contact drop-off began. Add to that: face masks, social distancing, sanitizing high-touch items, and limits on how many of us could be in the clinic at the same time. It was a very busy year for this bin placed at the front door of Stakman Hall. The 2020 season saw as many or more submissions as previous years despite the pandemic.
We served almost 700 customers with more than 2100 samples processed. We utilized our diagnostic skills in communicating over the phone vs. in person. Due to closures and limitations of clinics in other states, we saw an increase in the number of out-of-state submissions. The increase in the number of packages delivered was managed efficiently with the help of the Plant Pathology Administration and UMarket staff. We are proud that we managed to continue to provide essential plant diagnostics to local, state, and US customers last season and look forward to a time when contactless delivery is no longer necessary.