Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has procured 250,000 rapid point-of-care antigen tests, which will be set up at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, correctional and juvenile detention centers throughout the state.
The purchase makes Maryland the first state in the bipartisan interstate testing compact to proceed with an order for the rapid antigen tests.
Hogan and nine other governors have committed to purchasing the rapid tests, the first such agreement during the coronavirus pandemic, Hogan’s office said.
Making the announcement of the procurement during a visit Thursday to the Baltimore County campus of Becton, Dickinson and Company, an FDA authorized producer of the rapid antigen tests, Hogan said “state-of-the-art rapid testing will be critically important to our continued economic recovery and will also help to keep the people of our state safe.”
Rapid point-of-care antigen tests can deliver results in 15-20 minutes and considered by experts to be one of the best tools to detect outbreaks of COVID-19 more quickly and expand long-term testing in congregate settings.
State officials are in discussions to send rapid tests to college and university dormitories and campuses, the governor’s office said.