Oregon State Public Health Laboratory secures supplies to process over 400,000 specimens to increase in-state testing capacity, Aug. 24

The OHA announced that it had secured supplies to process more than 400,000 COVID-19 specimens via an agreement between the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory (OSPHL) and ThermoFisher. The supplies will be distributed to certain qualifying laboratories, increasing Oregon’s overall COVID-19 testing capacity. The agreement will add capacity to process at least an additional 20,000 tests per week on average. “This is an important step toward securing the COVID-19 testing capacity that our state needs,” said Patrick Allen, OHA director. “As we’ve said for months, without adequate testing, we cannot truly suppress the virus in our communities.” The new agreement builds on one that OSPHL had in place with ThermoFisher and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May and June, under which OSPHL received and distributed supplies to process some 130,000 specimens. OHSU, McKenzie Willamette Hospital and the Willamette Valley Toxicology Laboratory/OSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory participated in that program. The OSPHL will continue to distribute the kits to these three laboratories and will reach out to additional qualified laboratories to further expand testing capacity in Oregon.