As part of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive national effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to assist the nation’s Governors in doing so, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is sending 580,000 state-of-the-art Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 point of care antigen tests to the State of Nebraska. The rapid point of care tests, which can diagnose coronavirus infection in as little as fifteen minutes, will be distributed at the discretion of Governor Pete Ricketts to support testing K-12 students, teachers, nursing home patients and staff, higher education, critical infrastructure, first responders, and other priorities as he deems fit.
The Trump Administration has shipped over 245,000 COVID-19 rapid tests directly to congregate care settings such as Nebraska nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state. As of October 26 over 391,000 BinaxNOW tests have been shipped to Nebraska.
“To facilitate the continued re-opening of Nebraska schools, businesses and economy, the Trump Administration has prioritized scaling up the state’s point of care testing capacity by making this $760 million national investment in BinaxNOW tests,” said Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir, MD. “Distributing these rapid tests directly to states is consistent with the Trump Administration’s successful, ongoing approach of testing the right person, with the right test at the right time, is working and the effort will continue until the pandemic is under control.”
In preliminary feedback, the State of Nebraska has sent sixty percent of their first shipment to nursing homes, and shipments to alternate sites are on hold pending a BinaxNOW study being conducted by the state public health lab.
Giroir pointed out that testing does not substitute for avoiding crowded indoor spaces, washing one’s hands, or wearing a mask when not able to physically distance. “Combining personal responsibility with smart testing is a foundational pillar of the Administration’s national testing strategy.”