HARTFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut National Guard delivered 102,280 COVID-19 antigen tests to 212 locations throughout the state this week.
The deliveries added to an ongoing effort to maximize testing availability and efficiency for people living in congregate settings.
“Due to the increased surge in cases in nursing homes across the state, the Department of Public Health wanted to get the antigen tests out to these locations to provide a second source of testing,” said Connecticut National Guard Army Maj. Brian Osowiecki, medical planning and response cell officer in charge.
The antigen tests supplement the regular PCR testing the locations conduct with their care partners, said Osowiecki.
“With this rapid test, it only takes about 30 minutes to get the results versus swabbing and sending the samples to a lab and getting results a day or two later,” said Osowiecki.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered the tests from the manufacturer and delivered them to the Guard’s commodities warehouse, where they were organized for distribution throughout the state.
The Guard’s efforts helped cut expected delivery time for these tests in half, said Osowiecki.
“The Department of Public Health expected deliveries to take two weeks, but we got it done in one,” said Osowiecki.
A team of just eight drivers from the 1048th Medium Truck Company ensured efficient delivery to the 212 locations.
“It goes to show we’re continuing to refine and improve our warehouse operations and distribution plans,” said Osowiecki. “We’ve built efficiency and lessons learned over the last several months that we’ve been doing this mission.”