The company operating numerous COVID-19 testing sites across Connecticut has agreed to remain open an extra month through Jan. 31.
The announcement Dec. 21 by Sema4 comes at a time with Connecticut’s COVID positivity rate is over 9 percent and demand for testing higher than ever because of the upcoming holidays. Sema4 had been scheduled to close at the end of December.
“We’re confident that we’ll have capacity needed to support demand through Jan. 31,” said Craig Spencer, Vice President of Business Development for Sema Genomics.
Sema4 was one of four companies hired in July by the state Department of Public Health to manage 23 testing sites across the state, including ones in Fairfield County and Norwich that did thousands of tests in just the past week.
“There is an insatiable demand for testing in our community,” said Matt Kaufman, Vice President of Operations for Hartford HealthCare’s East Region, which includes Backus and Windham hospitals. He said the testing site on Stott Avenue in the Norwich Business Park has been extremely busy recently, with 150-200 cars lined up Dec. 20.
For a listing of testing sites, visit www.hartfordhealthcare.org/testing.
Also on Dec. 21, President Biden announced new steps to confront the newest surge in coronavirus cases, including opening new federal testing sites and buying 500 million rapid tests to distribute free to the public.
Coronavirus caseloads are rapidly rising around the country, particularly in the Northeast, fueled by the highly infectious new Omicron variant. In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont is rolling out a plan to boost testing capacity with some 400 sites in the state. The state’s positivity rate fluctuates between 6 percent and 8 percent.
The 500 million tests that the administration intends to buy will not be available until January. The government intends to create a website where people can request that tests be sent to their homes. Biden intends to invoke the Defense Production Act to accelerate production of tests.
Dr. Ajay Kumar, Hartford HealthCare’s Chief Clinical Officer, said as the Omicron variant continues to spread worldwide, and here in Connecticut, a COVID booster remains one of the best ways to stay healthy.
At-Home COVID-19 Tests
President Biden this week announced the federal government would purchase 500 million at-home COVID test kits and start mailing them in January to people who request them. Until then, these tests will remain a hard-to-find holiday purchase.
Two types of diagnostic tests are available for home use:
Antigen rapid test: The most common at-home test detects certain proteins in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. (For a list of antigen tests available under an FDA emergency use authorization, click here.) These tests are about 80 percent sensitive, so a false positive is not uncommon. And if you have symptoms, a negative doesn’t necessarily mean you’re COVID-free.
“The antigen tests rely on the timing, depends on the symptoms, so we shouldn’t rely on a negative test,” says Dr. Ulysses Wu, Hartford HealthCare’s System Director of Infection Disease and Chief Epidemiologist, “if we have a high suspicion (the patient) has COVID.”
PCR: A polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test is the most reliable at about 98 percent sensitive. It’s used at Hartford HealthCare test locations across the state. This method, also called a molecular test, detects the virus’ genetic material.
An antibody test checks for antibodies produced by your immune system as a defense against the virus. This type of test does not diagnose an active infection. Antibodies can take weeks to develop after an infection. A test requires blood from a finger stick or drawn at our doctor’s office of medical lab.
A fever, cough, body aches, runny nose or nausea creates an immediate dilemma — flu or COVID-19? — that has already increased testing demand this winter.
Elissa Bass contributed to this story.