The Daily World
Nearly 150,000 COVID-19 antigen tests, that can provide results within 15 minutes, are coming to Washington State.
Within the next five to ten days the state Department of Health will receive and distribute the first batch of Abbott BinaxNOW antigen test kits for COVID-19 from the federal government. The first batch will include 149,000 kits, and the state anticipates receiving nearly 2.3 million total tests between now and December.
These rapid tests work best for and are approved for people with symptoms, according to a Department of Health statement. The first batch will be distributed to community health centers, tribal clinics and critical access hospitals. A plan for distribution of future shipments was in development Thursday.
“Interpreting the results of antigen tests can be complex,” said Dr. Charissa Fotinos, the state’s testing leader and deputy director of the state Health Care Authority. “Based on what we know now, the state is deploying the first shipment of BinaxNOW tests for use in symptomatic people and possibly those exposed to confirmed cases.”
The federal government is in the process of distributing millions of BinaxNOW tests to the states. Details about distribution of future shipments to the state will be available soon.
Antigen test reporting
The state started publishing weekly antigen test results Wednesday.
Rapid antigen tests are on average less accurate than molecular tests, and haven’t been widely studied for people who don’t have symptoms. The Department of Health said appropriate use and careful interpretation of the results will be needed, and will add complexity to the way it measures COVID-19 prevalence across the state.
For now, the weekly report will include positive antigen results at the state level only. This report will remain separate from the molecular test results on the Department of Health dashboard at https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/DataDashboard, or on the governor’s Risk Assessment dashboard at https://coronavirus.wa.gov/what-you-need-know/covid-19-risk-assessment-dashboard.
“The goal in publicly reporting antigen test results is to increase transparency not just into our process, but into COVID-19 activity statewide. People across the state need a line of sight into these results as these tests become more popular and accessible, so we can understand emerging trends,” says Lacy Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19.
“Before we implement a wider application of this tool, we want to make sure we understand how to interpret the results, how to explain these interpretations, and how to use these tests to benefit the public,” says Dr. Charissa Fotinos, statewide testing leader for COVID-19 response.
