Eleven Scioto County, Ohio nursing homes are scheduled to receive devices to do rapid tests for COVID-19. According to Scioto EMA Director Larry Mullins, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is shipping hundreds of antigen testing instruments to nursing homes across Ohio.
Nursing home facilities in Scioto County should get their devices within the next few weeks. The Becton – Dickinson (BD) “Veritor Plus” is a portable, rapid point-of-care antigen testing instrument, to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in fifteen (15) minutes.
The BD “Veritor” portable analyzer has been used in the past to rapidly test for flu and step infections. The Food and Drug Administration granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) back in July for the“Veritor-Plus” to test for SARS-CoV-2, COVID 19 antigens instruments.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the instruments can be operated by current nursing home staff. The vendor provides training and maintenance. The goal of these machines is to expand testing in Ohio nursing homes. The devices will also help nursing facilities meet the weekly testing requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which require test results within 48 hours.
Scioto EMA Director Larry Mullins said, “The increased testing in our nursing facilities will help protect our most vulnerable citizens and the people providing care for them.”
Not As Accurate AS PCR Tests
These tests are not as accurate as PCR Tests. They detect the proteins on the surface of the virus and not the specific COVID-19 virus itself. These proteins are also part of other, mostly harmless, types of Coronaviruses. Doctors administer PCR tests confirm the diagnosis after a positive antigen test. Dr. Peter Mohler for OSU’s Wexner center said this test is like using a pair of binoculars to look for stars in the night sky. “You will have false positives and false negatives. If you’re using binoculars, you’re going to miss some stars.”
Dr. Mohler ranked the tests in order of reliability:
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- Gold Standard is the PCR Test – this gets a very detailed look at the DNA. That’s the test that virtually everyone who has been tested in Ohio has had. It’s the best and most accurate test in the world.
- Next is the point of care rapid tests in emergency rooms.
- Third, are antigen tests.
Scioto County Numbers
Scioto County Nursing homes have reported 60 cases of COVID-19 among staff and 58 among residents since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 26 patient cases are active and 17 staff.
According to the state, this is the nursing home case count for Scioto County:
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- Bernita Corporation – 2 cases 1 patient 1 staff 0 active
- Best Care 86 cases 48 patient 38 staff 36 active
- Bridgeport Healthcare 1 case 1 patient
- Concord Health 1 case 1 patient
- Edgewood Manor 6 cases 3 patient 3 staff 6 active
- Heritage Pointe 4 cases 1 patient 3 staff
- Ports. Health & Rehab 1 case 1 staff
- Resthaven 7 cases 2 patient 5 staff
- Riverbend 1 case 1 staff
- River Run Healthcare 5 cases 5 staff
- Rosemount Pavilion 4 cases 1 patient 3 staff 1 active
