Columbia inks deal to conduct 3,000 coronavirus tests
The city of Columbia has signed a deal with a Greenville-based medical firm to conduct coronavirus tests for city employees and potentially members of the public.
Columbia City Council approved a contract with Precision Genetics on Tuesday, allowing the company to conduct up to 3,000 tests for the city.
The testing will be available for first responders in the police and fire departments, as well as “frontline” employees like those in public works and solid waste collections who are potentially exposed to the virus as they interact with the public.
The $153,000 testing contract could also allow Precision to do “rapid response” testing if Columbia sees any localized outbreaks within the community.
“If we see it pop up in a neighborhood or a senior citizens’ home, we want to be able to rapidly deploy testing, which has been the main issue facing DHEC and other health agencies across the country,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin.
The city has already begun testing some city employees, with all the tests coming back negative so far, the mayor said.
Councilman Daniel Rickenmann, who chairs the city council’s public safety committee, said widespread testing is important to getting everyday life in Columbia back to normal.
“Long term social distancing is impractical and won’t allow us to get back to a strong and viable economy, so we must strategically test more and I’m glad that the city is leading the charge,” Rickenmann said in a city press release.
Rickenmann was the only member of city council to vote against Columbia’s stay-at-home order two weeks ago, before it was superseded by Gov. Henry McMaster’s own “work or home order” on Tuesday.
The state is ramping up capacity for dealing with coronavirus cases, with health officials projecting 3,500 patients may need to be hospitalized with COVID-19 by early May.
Officials are looking at placing beds in arenas, closed rural hospitals or even in tents. Some have visited a Richland County-owned building that once housed a furniture showroom for potential use as a surge hospital.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 3:07 PM.
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