2,000 new COVID-19 tests available in Hays County

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra announced during Tuesday’s Commissioners Court that 2,000 COVID-19 tests will be available through an agreement with Reliant Immune Diagnostic’s telemedicine application MDBox. 

Priority will be given to front line staff, medical personnel and individuals exhibiting symptoms. Test results will be available 15 minutes after they have taken the test, Becerra said. 

Dr. Amy Altman with Reliant Immune Diagnostics said the first 2,000 tests are being delivered directly to Becerra and the Hays County Health Department to distribute at his discretion, which would be government workers and front-line staff, according to his statement. They are still working out an additional distribution agreement for more tests for residents including selecting potential retail locations where residents may be able to purchase the tests to take at home. 

Altman is unsure what the cost will be for those initial 2,000 tests, however, their normal rate is $30 per test. Reliant Immune Diagnostics is not accepting health insurance at this time because they are trying to get as many people tested as possible. They accept Health Savings Accounts, and individual insurers may provide reimbursements to individuals. 

According to a press release from Reliant Immune Diagnostics, residents wanting to speak with a medical professional by phone and, as warranted, schedule a test should download the app at www.MDBox.com. 

All Hays County residents will have access to the MDBox.com mobile application and be able to purchase these in-home COVID-19 tests at partner retail locations after completing a video chat with a healthcare provider, according to the press release.

According to Altman, residents in Hays County can perform at home testing because Becerra decreed it in his emergency declaration, whereas residents outside Hays County cannot.

Becerra organized the agreement with only a few select individuals to ensure there was no false hope given to the public.

Other commissioners were not informed of the agreement while it was being developed, and Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith was concerned about the validity of the information, the availability of the tests and that health and medical professionals may not have been consulted on the efficacy of the test due to the exclusivity of work to create an agreement. Becerra assures that medical professionals were consulted. 

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any at-home testing. However, Altman clarified that the test being distributed in Hays County is the same test that has been authorized to be used in medical facilities. 

“The FDA is responsible for making sure everything is safe and effective, they are overwhelmed with making sure everybody is safe right now,” Altman said. “The test we use is very low risk so they haven’t done anything with regulating it yet. I think eventually they will approve for home testing.”

In a press release, the FDA said, “The FDA sees the public health value in expanding the availability of COVID-19 testing through safe and accurate tests that may include home collection, and is actively working with test developers to bring this to fruition.”

The City of San Marcos issued a warning last week from the FDA about fraudulent at-home tests being marketed at this time. 

False positives can bog down the healthcare system and increase an individual’s exposure if they seek medical care. False negatives can contribute to community exposure and delay an individual from seeking care. 

The FDA warns that negatives even from tests done in medical facilities do not rule out COVID-19; retesting should be considered in the context of the patient’s recent exposures and presence of clinical signs and symptoms of COVID-19. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is aware that test results are not always accurate, there are situations where they alternate back and forth between negative and positive. One San Antonio woman was released from medical isolation after she tested negative twice, but was readmitted after another test came back positive, according to a press release from the City of San Antonio. Another medical professional in Wuhan, China died from COVID-19 after two negative tests according to a New York Times article.

“It’s important to remember that this is a new virus and we are learning more about it every day,” the CDC said. “The cycle of infection with COVID-19 is not yet well understood, but the amount of virus is typically highest when the person is sickest.”

Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Villalobos said the county is examining protocols taken by other counties to determine a case threshold for Hays County to set up an Emergency Operation Center.

Although it is difficult to compare population density of different counties, Villalobos said Hays County will likely consider setting up an Emergency Operations Center once the case count reaches 30. 

Hays County later announced Tuesday that it reached 38 total cases with 28 currently active.