Rhode Island Sends 200,000 COVID-19 Test Kits to India

Published on Tuesday, June 08, 2021

In collaboration with Kent Hospital and Care New England's COVID-19 Crisis Relief Effort, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) sent 200,000 COVID-19 tests to India last week. The tests, along with other medical supplies like personal protective equipment, ventilators, medications, and pulse oximeters, will be distributed to hospitals around Delhi.

"I'm proud that Rhode Island is able to make the contribution of tests to support our global partners," said Governor Dan McKee. "It's going to take a local and global approach to slow the spread of COVID-19 and I'm glad that Rhode Island could step up in this way for the international community."

Each kit includes everything needed to administer and process the test like nasal swabs, resulting cards, and a bottle of reagent solution.

"India's hospitals and laboratories have been stretched to their limit as case counts in the nation reach an all-time high," said Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH. "RIDOH is sending BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests to help healthcare professionals quickly identify positive COVID-19 cases and put them into isolation. We know that getting COVID-19 positive patients into isolation significantly reduces the continued spread of disease. This type of test does not need to be sent to a lab and provides results in 15 minutes."

RIDOH received these BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests for free from the federal government. This supply allowed RIDOH to expand its testing footprint throughout the State, bringing fast and easy testing to schools, medical offices, and workplaces. RIDOH currently has enough rapid antigen tests to sustain current testing volume.