AHCA/NCAL has been advocating to the federal government to increase the supply of test kits to nursing homes and assisted living communities. The Association has learned that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be shipping an additional five million tests over the next five weeks. The shipments will be in addition to the existing Abbott BinaxNOW shipments.
The amount of test kits will be based on the COVID-19 prevalence in your county, as well as the number of residents and staff in your facility/community. These additional test kits will be the oral-pharyngeal 5M Celltrion POC tests.
These additional shipments are still meant to supplement existing demand and may not completely meet your testing needs. You are encouraged to continue outreach to your state or local health department and suppliers for additional testing supplies to keep them apprised of the demand.
AHCA/NCAL will continue to advocate to the federal government for more facility test kits.