Missouri governor, first lady got rapid COVID-19 tests. Can you get the same thing?
When Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and first lady Teresa Parson wanted to get tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday, Sept. 23, they turned to a rapid test that delivers results in minutes. The two quickly learned they were positive, setting off a chain of events that upended Missouri politics.
The device the couple used – the Abbott ID NOW – is one of the fastest available. A single test takes 13 minutes or less.
But more than six months into the pandemic, on-demand rapid testing isn’t always available to the general public.
There is no central registry that shows where the Abbott device and other rapid tests are publicly available, so it’s difficult to say for certain what facilities and institutions have one. Missouri obtained 15 Abbott devices in April from the federal government and scattered them across the state.
Interviews with medical professionals on Thursday suggest the amount of rapid testing lags well behind slower, but more accurate, forms of testing. The inventory of devices is limited and each one can only run one test at a time, making them no match for the tens of thousands of tests ordered every week in Missouri.
Still, machines that deliver results quickly are gaining more ground in the testing market, including the Kansas City area. HCA Midwest Health plans to begin using more than 18 Abbott devices next week across nine facilities in the metro area.
“We are extremely excited,” said Mary Devers, market medical director for Care Now Urgent Care offices in the metro.
Clinic staff are currently being trained on the devices and a formal rollout is expected in early October. HCA won’t be prioritizing who can receive a test, she said, but added that individuals interested in a test must visit with a doctor first.
Devers said she didn’t know how much clinics will charge for the test. Testing costs for people without insurance has previously been covered by the federal government.
The benefit of the test, she said, will come for individuals who have been around people with COVID-19 but fall short of what she called “true exposures” — more than 15 minutes within 6feet of someone without masks.
People who have “true exposure” should quarantine regardless of whether they test positive or negative. But “the vast majority of people don’t have true exposure,” Devers said. Still, they’re left with uncertainty.
“The rapid test will be able to give you an answer right then and there,” Devers said.
Missouri statewide officeholders who were near Parson over the past week were tested after exposure that at least one office said fell short of close contact.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, all Republicans, appeared on stage with Parson without masks on Saturday at an event in Springfield.
All four officials tested negative on Wednesday. Ashcroft’s office initially said Wednesday he didn’t meet the definition of close contact, then announced Thursday that he, too, had been tested the previous day.
Parson’s office released a statement Thursday saying the governor continues to feel healthy. The Republican, who’s on the November ballot, will perform his gubernatorial duties from the governor’s mansion in Jefferson City for the next 10 days, participating virtually in meetings and other events.
Members of his staff and security detail are being tested as a precaution and awaiting results. Parson’s office will continue to operate without interruption, according to the statement.
“Everybody’s got to take care of themselves, you’ve got to do everything within your own powers to protect yourself, your family members, your friends and we did the exact same thing and we’ll continue to do that,” Parson during an interview with KMOX, a St. Louis radio station, Thursday afternoon.
While rapid tests deliver convenience, they have also been trailed by concerns over their accuracy. The Food and Drug Administration issued a public alert in May over the potential for false negative tests from Abbott ID NOW, but also said the device “can still be used and can correctly identify many positive cases in minutes.” At the time, the FDA suggested negative results may need to be confirmed with a follow-up test.
For comparison, traditional COVID-19 tests – where a swab is sent away to a lab – have accuracy levels nearing 100 percent.
“Those are so good that if you have one virus per milliliter of fluid, which is essentially you don’t even have it, they can find it,” said Darrin D’Agostino, vice provost for health affairs at Kansas City University.
Abbott has pointed to interim clinical study data showing the test performing with accuracy levels above 90 percent and said studies suggest the device works best when used to test patients soon after they develop symptoms.
“We’re pleased that ID NOW is delivering on what it was designed to do – quickly detect the virus in people who need to know now if they’re infected,” Philip Ginsburg, a senior medical director at Abbott, said in May.
The federal government has also stuck by Abbott. In August, the White House announced a $750 million deal with the company to provide a 15-minute test that doesn’t require special equipment.
Missouri has also been involved in development of a test with intermediate speed. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a saliva test that can return results in a few hours. The test received emergency use authorization from the FDA in August.
The Star’s Bryan Lowry contributed reporting
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 5:21 PM.