Rhode Island Sends 200K COVID-19 Tests, Medical Supplies To India

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island send 200,000 coronavirus test kits, along with medical supplies, to help the pandemic response in India, the state's Department of Health announced Monday. The shipment will be distributed to hospitals in the Delhi area.

The shipment was put together in collaboration with Care New England's COVID-19 Crisis Relief Effort, as well as Kent Hospital, RIDOH said. The package, which was sent out last week, contained personal protective equipment, ventilators, medication, pulse oximeters and other supplies, along with the tests.

"I'm proud that Rhode Island is able to make the contribution of tests to support our global partners," Gov. Dan McKee said. "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 test kit contains everything needed to administer and process tests, including 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," Dr. Nicole Alexnader-Scott, the director of the department. "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."

The tests were part of Rhode Island's supply from the federal government, provided free of charge. The department still has enough rapid tests to supply the current testing volume, the department said.