COVID-19 Update: Testing Partnership
April 15, 2020
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Health systems worldwide have struggled due to a critical shortage of test kit components, including the swabs used to collect samples and the sterile solution needed to transport the swabs, called viral transport media (VTM).
Governor DeWine announced that a team of Ohio State University researchers created an in-house “recipe” to make the crucial VTM.
In addition, the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State’s colleges of Medicine, Engineering, and Dentistry, along with the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence, Infectious Diseases Institute, and Institute for Materials Research, collaborated with a national consortium that rapidly deployed a design and testing program for 3D printed testing swabs.
Ohio State is part of the academic-industry-government consortium led by Harvard, the U.S. Army, and the University of South Florida that designed the swabs. Ohio State teams are working with 3D Manufacturing companies, including FormLabs, Inc. in Toledo, and academic institutes across the State of Ohio to manufacture these swabs and swab kits en-masse for the citizens of Ohio.
“Very soon, the first order of 15,000 3D printed swabs for COVID-19 test kits will be delivered to Ohio State, with a target of 200,000 swabs and swab kits to be shared in partnership with our Ohio Department of Health and hospital systems across Ohio, allowing more people to be tested by the end of April,” said Governor DeWine. “We are extremely appreciative of the partnerships between our Ohio academic teams and business partners to create innovative solutions during this time.”
The Ohio Department of Health and Ohio State will continue to work on eliminating swab manufacturing and design constraints through a rapid product development cycle, including clinical testing.
CURRENT OHIO DATA:
There are 7,791 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 361 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 2,237 people have been hospitalized, including 677 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Video of today’s full update, including versions with foreign language closed captioning, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page.
For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.