By Adam Pagnucco.
Montgomery County Government has sent the email below to county employees regarding the suspension of COVID testing by county vendor AdvaGenix. County employees, particularly first responders and essential workers, were among the first people to receive the tests. The email tells employees, “Although the data we have reviewed does not suggest that the test results were affected by the apparent flaws in AdvaGenix’s lab process, we encourage you to take advantage of one of the other COVID-19 testing resources to be re-tested.”
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From: “MCG.Postmaster” MCG.Postmaster@montgomerycountymd.gov
Date: August 14, 2020
To: #MCG_All <#MCG_All@montgomerycountymd.gov>
Subject: COVID-19 Testing Update
On May 21, 2020, the County announced the signing of an agreement with County-based testing firm, AdvaGenix, to provide COVID-19 testing to County employees and the general public. Since that date, the County has been working to expand free testing for asymptomatic residents and employees using the AdvaGenix tests, with more than 19,000 tests administered in the last 2 months. Unfortunately, yesterday that momentum came to a halt. As you may have seen, the County has suspended the AdvaGenix testing program after learning that the Maryland Department of Health had issued an order formally halting testing at their lab.
Your health and safety are our top priority. Therefore, we want to provide you with some guidance as to what this situation means to you. In the interim, County officials are working rigorously to determine an alternative source of test analysis so the testing program can resume.
First, all Department testing schedules are suspended until further notice. We are identifying new testing options so that we can have an employee testing program back up and running as soon as possible. There are a multitude of free testing options that remain available to anyone who needs or wants to be tested, including local urgent care centers, CVS locations, hospitals, etc. For additional testing sites, visit the State of Maryland’s Testing Locator page, which can be found at https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/symptoms-testing#siteapp, or call the County’s Testing Helpline at 240-777-1755.
Second, for those of you who were tested by AdvaGenix, you should receive an e-mail from AdvaGenix informing you of what has happened. Although the data we have reviewed does not suggest that the test results were affected by the apparent flaws in AdvaGenix’s lab process, we encourage you to take advantage of one of the other COVID-19 testing resources to be re-tested.
Third, the County’s asymptomatic individual testing program using the oral swab or saliva method has been temporarily paused. However, the County will continue to offer free public testing using a variety of nasal tests. In fact, the state has already committed to provide us with 20,000 nasal kits while we transition to a new self-administered test.
Finally, the County’s testing program through AdvaGenix was only a very small piece of the overall available market for tests in Montgomery County. To date, more than 261,000 COVID-19 tests have been administered to County residents. The AdvaGenix test only accounted for 8 percent of the total. Once again, there are a multitude of free testing options that remain available to anyone who needs or wants to be tested, including local urgent care centers, CVS locations, hospitals, etc. For additional testing sites, visit the state’s Testing Locator page, which can be found at https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/symptoms-testing#siteapp, or call the County’s Testing Helpline at (240) 777-1755.
If you have any additional questions, please contact Don Scheuerman at Don.Scheuerman@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Everyone involved in our testing effort is deeply disappointed with this development. It is so very frustrating that communities across our country are having to invent and reinvent testing programs since the federal government refuses to take responsibility for a national strategy.
Yet, in these difficult times, we have no choice but to pull together as a community to survive the pandemic. Together, we will overcome this newest obstacle. Together we will beat this frustrating virus.