Maine to triple testing capacity in partnership with Idexx - Press Herald

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The state of Maine is partnering with animal testing giant Idexx to purchase up to 5,000 COVID-19 test kits per week, tripling testing capacity statewide, expanding availability of tests for anyone suspected of having the coronavirus and eliminating test rationing to only the most critical outbreaks and cases.

“This changes everything,” Mills said in a statement. “Now we are poised to more than triple the State’s testing capacity, remove testing barriers for health care providers, and make sure that anyone who needs a test can get one.”

The announcement comes hours after Idexx on Thursday received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a coronavirus test kit the company developed for human use.

Mills announced the testing deal at a news briefing with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported the state now has 1,330 total cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus. That’s an increase of 76 cases since Wednesday. No additional deaths were reported.

Testing in Maine has largely been limited to health care workers and people in congregate living environments. Widespread access to testing is a critical factor in states’ abilities to reopen with less risk of increasing infections. There have been 22,092 negative tests in Maine as of Wednesday.

Currently the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has the capacity to test 2,000 people per week, and the Mills administration said it will continue to perform those tests in addition to the new tests being purchased from Idexx. It was not immediately clear from the the governor’s statement whether IDEXX would be responsible for carrying out the test procedure as well as providing the test kits themselves.

IDEXX will also loan the Maine CDC laboratory a piece of testing equipment to further expedite test results, the governor’s office said.

“I am grateful to the frontline workers in Maine and around the world who have been working tirelessly to help treat and contain the spread of Covid-19,” said Jay Mazelsky, President and CEO of Idexx, in a statement.

“Assisting governments with infectious disease management is core to what we do and all of us at Idexx are proud to be able to leverage our capabilities in support of these efforts in our home state of Maine.”

Mills and other states’ governors have faced protests and intense scrutiny over her phases approach to reopening the state’s economy and easing emergency social distancing orders. Public health experts say that any plan to reopen society must be paired with expanded and readily available testing capacity, or states risk a deadly resurgence of the disease that they would be unable to track.

“This is a game changer,” said Dr. Nirav D. Shah, Director of the Maine Centers for Disease Control. “It will allow us to move to a next level of testing that is crucial to monitoring the public health implications of a phased reopening of Maine businesses and gathering places.”

Mills thanked the company’s leadership team and employees and said the deal shows the power of public-private collaboration.

There are now 481 known active cases, calculated by subtracting the number of people who have recovered or died from total cases. So far, 62 people have died who tested positive for COVID-19, roughly half of them in long-term care facilities.

The number of active cases is the highest since April 17, when the state recorded 446 people fighting the virus. That number had dipped since then, even dropping below 400 briefly in late April. Public health experts agree that a decline in cases for at least two weeks is one of the most important criteria for determining whether it is safe to begin reopening the economy.

Gov. Mills, who announced last month a plan to gradually reopen parts of the state’s economy, has said this week that she is considering modifications, including allowing more outdoor activities as well as quicker reopenings in rural parts of the states that have fewer cases.

New Hampshire, in its reopening plan, will permit restaurants to seat customers outside starting on May 18. Mills said there are talks along those lines in her administration. Current restrictions forbid all in-person dining at Maine restaurants through the end of May.

This story will be updated.

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