Partnership expected to double state’s COVID-19 testing capacity
Gov. Tony Evers announced a new public-private partnership Monday that’s expected to initially double the state’s COVID-19 testing capacity.
There have been 1,221 positive tests for COVID-19 and 15,856 negative tests in the state, the Department of Health Services said Monday. There have been 14 deaths.
Exact Sciences, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Promega and UW Health will help bolster work by the Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network to bring additional COVID-19 testing online.
The Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene and the Milwaukee Public Health Lab were leading that effort before Monday’s announcement.
The network has been averaging the completion of 1,500 to 2,000 tests per day.
The new public-private partnership will double that capacity at first and continue to expand as “additional platforms and supplies become available,” the statement noted.
Evers also thanked the Wisconsin Diagnostic Lab at Froedtert, Children’s Wisconsin, Gundersen Health System and Advocate Aurora Health for their early work.
Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm told the reporters that the “great limiting factor” are the ingredients needed to run the test.
“We all are very closely watching and working together to get our hands on the ingredients that we need to run these tests, but that ultimately really is what will limit our ability to scale up,” she said.
Evers told reporters that they’re supporting hospitals and tribal health partners in setting up “voluntary isolation centers.”
Palm said they’ve been exploring setting up centers around the state and providing guidance to local groups to establish their own isolation facilities if and when needed. The centers are for those who need isolation to help stop the spread of the disease.
Evers said they’re also working with the Army Corps of Engineers to make sure field hospitals and facilities are ready to address the surge in the coming weeks.
Kevin Conroy, Exact Sciences CEO, said in a statement that they’re repurposing equipment and reconfiguring lab space to scale up testing capabilities.
Marshfield Clinic Health System can now test for COVID-19 and turn around the results within a day or less, according to CEO Dr. Susan Turney.
Promega is providing reagents needed for COVID-19 tests, per CEO Bill Linton. UW Health has been working with state and local government and private sector partners to increase testing capacity, address needs for space and equipment and encourage social distancing, said CEO Dr. Alan Kaplan.
The labs are not testing sites, the statement noted. Wisconsinites seeking a COVID-19 test still require an order from a doctor. So far, the state has been prioritizing hospitalized patients, healthcare workers and those likely to see severe complications from the virus.
That requirement for a doctor’s order drew some concerns from Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Friday. He said they need to work with Milwaukee-area health systems and community health centers to address issues of equity and community.
“This has to be a situation where there is no differential between whether you have a personal physician or you don’t,” he said “And that’s one of the issues we face in the City of Milwaukee where we have literally tens of thousands of individuals who do not have their own personal physician. And so if the gatekeeper mechanism for this is whether you have a personal physician or not, then we are in a load of problems.”
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