Dear COBA Members;

I previously reported to you that a new type of COVID-19 testing will be made available at NUMC. This new test is supposed to yield results in approximately 15 minutes. I also advised that those test kits were not here yet but will be made available shortly.

Unfortunately someone along the way jumped the gun and reported to Newsday (who then published) that these new tests were being made available to First Responders immediately. To be clear, several county officials including the Sheriff and myself were advised that these test kits were to be delivered this past week. This obviously did not occur.

Late yesterday I received written notification from the County Executive on this issue wherein she stated:

(Laura Curran)

"As reported in the media, we've moved proactively to purchase mass testing kits for antibodies. However, we cannot begin lab testing until the antibody test is validated by the Federal Drug Administration and the New York State Department of Health. We'll be ready with protocols in place once we receive the greenlight from the State. Our first responders, law enforcement, and essential health and support employees will be first in line."

What this means is that the go ahead to administer these tests has not been approved yet. It is expected to potentially take a few weeks for this process to be completed.

As of now, the current procedure and protocol will remain in place at NUMC, which unfortunately includes delays in getting the results. The delays are much shorter than reported originally but it still takes a few days to obtain the results.

Please be reminded that if you show symptoms, you must notify the Tour Commander on duty and call to schedule a test. You may use the provider of your choice should you desire, or you can call the test line at NUMC that was setup. Once you perform these simple steps, you are considered to be on Administrative Leave pending the results of your COVID-19 test.

NUMC Test Line: 516-573-7410

I will advise you once the new Rapid Testing procedure implemented.

In Unity;

Brian Sullivan, COBA President