Cobb County government said late Friday it plans to distribute more than 60,000 COVID-19 at-home testing kits paid for with federal CARES Act funding, and could spend more to purchase more tests.
A release sent out by county spokesman Ross Cavitt said that Cobb commissioners will be asked Tuesday to ratify a decision by the Cobb Emergency Management Agency to spend $816,480 in CARES Act funds for the tests, which cost $13.50 each (agenda item here).
He said that “the goal is to target segments of the community where people have had difficulty accessing testing” and that the aim is to have distribution events in each of the four Cobb commission districts, “along with help from nonprofits, churches, and other groups to get these COVID self-test kits to those in the county who need them the most.”
An unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in Cobb now stands at a 14-day average of 2,614 cases per 100,000 people, many times above the “high” transmission threshold of 100/100K.
Commissioners will be meeting in a virtual setting next week, including their Tuesday morning business meeting. That meeting, which starts at 9 a.m., will begin with a COVID-19 update from Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who switched the meetings to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 spike, has declared a state of emergency in the county through Jan. 22.
Earlier this week, Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Leonard halted jury trials through Jan. 21 due to rising COVID-19 transmission.
Also this week, Cobb and Douglas Public Health opened two new COVID-19 testing locations, but like others in existence said demand is high and wait times are long.
Cavitt said that county leaders want to receive the kits and hold a distribution event on the Martin Luther King holiday on Jan. 16.
“County and Public Health officials are working with the Cobb County NAACP chapter to finalize details of the event,” Cavitt said.
In the release, Cupid was quoted as saying that “we have the resources to be able to help many of our residents who have told us getting tested for COVID has been a challenge. So it makes sense to use these federal relief funds to help distribute test kits to help contain the spread of COVID in Cobb.”
Cavitt said the Cobb Emergency Management Agency will store the kits “while a plan to distribute them across the county comes into focus.”
Related posts:
- Cobb and Douglas Public Health opens more COVID-19 test sites
- Cobb jury trials paused in Cobb through Jan. 21
- Cobb issues emergency declaration through Jan. 22
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