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People visiting loved ones at nursing homes or other long-term care facilities in Massachusetts will soon undergo rapid COVID-19 testing beforehand, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said Monday.
The state plans to roll out rapid COVID-19 testing, specifically the Abbott BinaxNOW testing program, to long-term care facilities across the state, particularly for visitors, Sudders said. The announcement comes a week after the state announced rapid testing for K-12 schools.
“We know this time of year can be difficult for many, and particularly in long-term care facilities, and it’s important to preserve the quality of life of loved ones in those facilities,” said Sudders, who leads the COVID-19 Command Center. “The use of Abbott BinaxNOW testing will continue to allow quality of life to be paramount while also preserving the health and wellbeing of service staff and visitors.”
Those who test negative may enter the facility as long as they aren’t showing COVID-19 symptoms and agree to wear a mask and stay at least 6 feet apart from others. Those who test positive won’t be allowed in.
Staff that regularly works in a facility, which typically undergo surveillance testing every other week, will now have to undergo weekly testing because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, Sudders said. She said facilities will have to continue to test staff and residents who have close contact with anyone who tests positive for COVID-19.
Doctors from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health hospitals across the state conducted a study to analyze the effectiveness of the rapid test, compared to the traditional PCR test. The study involved 1,381 adults and 233 children, most of whom were asymptomatic.
In the study, the rapid test was 96.5% effective in detecting the virus among adults and 100% effective in identifying COVID-free adults within seven days of symptoms. The rapid test was 77.8% effective in detecting the virus among children and 100% effective in identifying COVID-free children within seven days of symptoms.
When looking at only asymptomatic test subjects, the rapid test was 70.2% effective in detecting the virus among adults and 63.6% effective in detecting the virus among children. The rapid test was almost 100% effective in identifying COVID-free adults and children.
“The test looked very good in symptomatic adults, not as effective in younger people,” said Dr. Douglas T. Golenbock, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at UMass Medical School. “Having the rapid test available is just such a big step forward.”
But Golenbock added that, until the rapid tests become more effective at detecting the virus, they wouldn’t be a substitute for PCR tests.
Sudders said Monday the rapid tests should not be used for large-scale asymptomatic testing of staff and residents.
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