Upgrades to quintuple testing capabilities

TYLER — On Wednesday Judge Nathaniel Moran detailed what an agreement struck earlier this week will mean to Smith County residents and beyond. “We passed an interlocal agreement with the Public Health Lab of East Texas to quintuple their testing abilities here in East Texas for COVID-19. That was a partnership that we were proud to reach with University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler to make sure that we upgraded their lab equipment and their facilities, so that East Texans here in Smith County and beyond could get quick testing.” The enhancements will expand the lab’s COVID-19 testing capacity from 50 tests per day to 250 tests per day.

Judge Moran continued, “It’s not just an expenditure now with what’s going on in COVID-19. But it’s an investment in the future. This will pay dividends to our citizens long beyond COVID-19 pandemic. and we’re proud of that. That is the way that we have approached this, is how can invest in the partnerships that we have here in Smith County and locally.” The court voted to spend $650,564 of the County’s CARES Act funds for testing kits, facility renovations and upgraded equipment for the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas to expand its COVID-19 testing capabilities. This is 12.18 percent of the $5.38 million that the County is eligible to receive from the Coronavirus Relief Fund of the CARES Act for for expenses. The federal deadline to spend allocated funds is December 30, 2020.

Not only will there be a drastic increase in testing ability, but it will also tie the lab’s systems into those of UT Health Science Center at Tyler to reduce the chances of an interruption of service provided by the lab. Other items Smith County has purchased using the CRF funding include:

· 20 phones and 20 computers for NET Health via an interlocal agreement for NET Health to expand its local contact tracing efforts in conjunction with the dedication of no-cost office space in the Courthouse Annex Building;

· More than 40,000 disposable masks for use by employees and the public;

· 500 face shields for election workers to use in the November General Election;

· 20,000 “finger cots” for voters to use in the November General Election;

· 70 free-standing hand sanitizer stations for use at each election polling location and at various county facilities;

· More than 20,000 pairs of disposable gloves for use by county employees;

· 2 walk-through metal detectors for use in off-site jury selection;

· More than 50 laptops for use by employees to undertake county business remotely and ensure continuity of services to the public; and

· More than 500 COVID-19 tests for county employees.