The mobile test lab at the Maine CDC in Augusta. Photo courtesy of Maine Department of Health and Human Services
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has opened a new mobile lab for COVID-19 testing in Augusta, which will double the state’s testing capacity from 6,000 per week to more than 25,000.
The department also announced that it is expanding financial support for 27 “swab and send” test sites across the state through at least October 31, giving sites the ability to offer free trials.
Maine reported 28 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, but no additional deaths. Three cases were drawn from previous daily reports – probably due to probable cases turning negative – so Thursday’s net gain in positive cases was 25.
Overall, 4,414 Mainers became ill with COVID-19, with 132 deaths. Another 18 people were named Thursday as recovered, bringing the total number recovered to 3,847. The total number of active cases was 435, four less than on Wednesday.
Maine’s seven-day average number of new cases stood at 23.7, compared with an average of seven days of 24.3 cases for the week ending August 20th. Hospitalizations remained low, with a total of nine people in the hospital, including four in critical care and one on a ventilator.
The expanded testing capacity with the mobile lab is part of the state’s partnership with Idexx for additional test kits, staff and the mobile lab. The Westbrook company focuses on diagnostic testing of animals, but expanded its work after the pandemic was instituted to develop COVID-19 tests.
In early May, Janet Mills’ government announced a $ 725,000 contract with the company that included new test equipment and related materials.
“This is another important step forward in our efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19,” Mills said in a written statement Thursday. “On behalf of the people of Maine, we applaud our staff at the State lab and thank Idexx for its continued partnership, which has made reliable testing more available across our state.”
The state also announced Thursday that it has suspended the health permit for the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket, which is linked to at least 87 COVID-19 cases, including two other outbreaks, after hosting a wedding on Aug. 7. 87 cases, 32 were primary cases – people who were at the reception. That’s about half of the 65 people who participated, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rest are considered secondary and tertiary cases. Outbreaks at the Alfred Prison in Alfred and a nursing home in Madison have been linked to Millinocket’s reception, CDC officials said. One of the infected died.
Also Thursday, Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories, which has a lab and factories in Scarborough and Westbrook, announced a new $ 5, 15-minute antigen test that has been authorized for emergency delivery by the Food and Drug Administration.
Later in the day, the White House announced that the Trump administration plans to purchase 150 million of the Abbott tests for distribution across the country. President Trump was expected to mark the purchase in his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention.
Abbott plans to hire 1,200 employees in Westbrook to take the test, called BinaxNOW. Production will begin in September, with up to 50 million tests per month in October.
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