An influx of at-home rapid antigen tests is heading Ohio’s way to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
In a Jan. 21 address, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a partnership with Abbott Laboratories and eMedApps to provide 2 million BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests and along with virtual guidance to Ohioans self-administering them at home. Results from these tests typically are available in about 15 minutes.
Ohio is investing $50 million in the project, with funding coming from the federal CARES Act, DeWine says. Local and county health departments will have broad guidance to administer the tests in ways specific to their communities — something those health departments have been asking for throughout the pandemic.
“Local health departments have told us that if we could get more of these rapid tests so that we could deploy them in the community, this would be very, very helpful to slowing the spread of the virus,” DeWine says. “If we get a hotspot somewhere, if we get an outbreak in a factory, we can be able to move in very quickly.”
“As we’re going on offense and as we’re focusing on the vaccine, we have to continue to do the testing. This will make testing more broadly available,” DeWine adds.
DeWine had falsely tested positive for coronavirus in early August through an antigen test and was confirmed through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test later that day to not have the virus. But during today’s address, Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D., the chief medical officer for the Ohio Department of Health said that antigen tests are more reliable now and serve as just one tool in the fight against COVID-19.
“These tests have come a long way [since then]. And we have a very very high degree of confidence now in a positive test result for one of these tests,” Vandrehoff says. “It’s prudent for us to get as many tests as possible out into the public, out into the people’s hands.”
EMed, a telehealth platform, that will provide live guidance to those in Ohio who are administering the new rapid antigen tests on their own.
“We believe that this is a model for innovative testing,” Patrice Harris, CEO of eMed, says during DeWine’s address. “It’s a tool in the toolbox to mitigate spread and get the state of Ohio back to school, work and play.”
The new partnership comes as Ohio grapples with a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, in part due to a lack of production and distribution.
Learn more about Ohio’s response to COVID-19 on the Ohio Department of Health website.
This article appears in Jan 1-31, 2021.