Early December is the soonest the city can expect to receive an advanced testing machine enabling coronavirus testing to be completed locally and shortening the wait time for results down to hours rather than days, said Robert Barr, planning section chief for the city’s Emergency Operations Center.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce Weekly Luncheon, Barr told virtual attendees how the city was currently on waitlists for four separate machines, Barr said, but the high demand for testing machines worldwide means early December was a highly optimistic date.<\/p>\n
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Barr said at the luncheon.<\/p>\n
In early June, the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted to use $700,000 of federal CARES Act money to purchase a testing machine to be housed and operated at Bartlett Regional Hospital.<\/p>\n
Currently, the city relies on state or private laboratories to process the test samples taken from people in Juneau. Because samples have to be flown to either the Lower 48 or elsewhere in the state, the current turn-around time for test results is 3-5 days, Barr said. The large number of variables involved in sending the tests elsewhere — demand, testing supplies, weather and staffing — can make wait times for results even longer, he said.<\/p>\n
[Juneau a testing hub? Assembly to consider buying testing machine<\/a>] <\/ins><\/p>\n The testing machines the city’s in line for would be able to process test samples in as little as four hours, Barr said, but the likely turnaround time for results could be between six and 24 hours given the realities of the work involved.<\/p>\n The biggest problem, Barr said, was the cost of operating the machine in the long run.<\/p>\n “We really don’t know how we’re going to pay for this after Dec. 31,” Barr said. <\/p>\n CARES Act money pays for all testing in Alaska done by the state or local governments, and under the current arrangement, the state is using its share of the federal aid money. But if the city were to purchase its own machine and start processing tests locally that could change, Barr said.<\/p>\n The machine and the associated costs of installing it, including light renovation work needed to install it at the hospital, are currently being paid for with CARES Act money. But the deadline to use that money is Dec. 30. There is legislation<\/a> introduced by Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to extend the spending deadline another year to 2021. But even with bipartisan support for such legislation, it is difficult to predict what Congress would do and when, Barr said.<\/p>\n