Hardeeville hospital receives 1 of 15 coronavirus rapid-test devices from SC supply
Coastal Carolina Hospital is one of 15 health care facilities in South Carolina to receive a coronavirus rapid-testing device from a federal supply, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said Tuesday.
The Abbott Laboratories ID NOW can provide COVID-19 test results in 15-20 minutes, DHEC said in a news release.
With testing in high demand, state health officials considered facilities that could use the machines to expand testing to rural communities. The agency also focused the initial supply on areas with high numbers of positive cases and higher-than-average rates for underlying conditions like diabetes, hypertension and chronic diseases, according to the release.
DHEC also prioritized areas with poor populations and high African American populations, DHEC’s Nick Davidson told reporters on a conference call earlier this month.
In a sample of 148 COVID-19 deaths recorded by the agency, black South Carolinians made up at least 56%, despite constituting only 27% of the state’s population.
A 60-year-old Jasper County resident died after contracting the virus and 19 cases have been reported in the county as of Tuesday morning, according to DHEC. The agency is not providing demographic data on cases or deaths at the county level.
Jasper County is 42% black, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
”We wanted to give (the device) to many more communities,” Davidson said on the earlier call. “We wish we had more. We want to distribute more.”
DHEC said in Tuesday’s release it had requested more rapid-test devices but had been provided no specific timeline for when to expect the next shipment. The 15 machines distributed this month came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
They were supplied to facilities across the state with “a limited amount of testing supplies,” according to DHEC.
The Abbott devices use a swab taken from a patient’s nostril, as in traditional coronavirus testing. But while coronavirus tests processed at DHEC’s public laboratory are returned in 24 to 48 hours, the devices provide results in less than 20 minutes, the agency said.
According to the company that manufacturers them, the white and gray devices weigh about six and a half pounds and are the size of a small toaster. The device was touted by President Trump and federal health officials as reducing the need for personal protective equipment to administer a test, but medical workers have raised concerns that administering the test still involves a process that could release the contagious virus into the air, reported Kaiser Health News.
NPR News reported last week that a preliminary research study showed the ID NOW device had a high rate of producing false negatives compared to other tests. In response, the manufacturer defended the device’s reliability.
The Abbott rapid-test received emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration at the end of March, according to an Abbott news release.
Here’s where the rapid-test machines were sent in S.C.
DHEC’s initial allocation of Abbott rapid-test devices were distributed to facilities across South Carolina, including:
- Kershaw Health (Kershaw County)
- Self Regional Healthcare (Greenwood County)
- Piedmont Medical Center (York County)
- Regional Medical Center: Orangeburg Hospital (Orangeburg County)
- Bon Secours Health System (Greenville County)
- AnMed Health (Anderson County)
- Aiken Regional Medical Center (Aiken County)
- McCleod Health Clarendon (Clarendon County)
- Spartanburg Regional Healthcare (Spartanburg County)
- Coastal Carolina Hospital (Jasper County)
- MUSC Health Marion (Marion County)
- Williamsburg Regional Hospital (Williamsburg County)
- Lexington Medical Center (Lexington County)
- Al Cannon Detention Center (Charleston County)
- S.C. Department of Corrections (no location provided)
Joseph Bustos at The State contributed reporting.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 12:47 PM.
