(10/06/20) Governor Kate Brown today announced a plan to deploy a huge influx of rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government. Oregon will be receiving 60,000 to 80,000 COVID-19 rapid tests per week until the end of the year. The Abbott BinaxNOW antigen tests can diagnose cases of COVID-19 in 15 minutes.
“With this increased testing capacity, we hope to be able to diagnose more people quickly so they can get the care they need,” said Governor Brown. “We want to identify more cases of COVID-19 so we can also isolate and quarantine people, helping contain the virus. The new tests will be deployed statewide, with a focus first on counties and long-term care facilities that have been affected by wildfire evacuations, putting vulnerable residents and staff at higher risk for COVID-19. Second, the tests will be deployed to outpatient and mobile COVID-19 testing locations, for symptomatic people and their close contacts, whether those contacts are showing symptoms.”
A full transcript of Governor Brown’s remarks is available here.