Georgia deploys 3D printers, Guard units in testing scramble

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Seeing a chance to help amid a shortage of kits to test people for the coronavirus, Dr. Jeffrey James dedicated a 3D printer at the dental college where he teaches to churning out nasal swabs at a rate of 300 per day.

Then Georgia officials working with Gov. Brian Kemp heard about the project. They asked James if he could crank up swab production even more — to 5,000 daily.

“I said yes,” James recalled, “then I left the meeting and had a panic attack.”

Now seven printers with names like Mighty Mouse and Sonic 1 and 2 hum constantly in a room on the third floor of Augusta University’s dental school. Volunteering dental residents, endodontists, orthodontists and oral surgeons rotate between two daily 12-hour shifts, even on weekends, to meet the demand.

The production push is one way Georgia is scrambling to catch up on COVID-19 testing after the Republican governor lifted shelter-at-home orders for most people and allowed hair salons, gyms, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys to reopen and restaurants to resume dine-in service.

The Trump administration’s plans for emerging from lockdowns imposed to slow the virus have largely left individual states on their own when it comes to supplying themselves with test kits and finding workers and sites to administer those tests. Georgia lagged behind most U.S. states in testing even as Kemp moved aggressively to ease restrictions and restart the economy.

Public health experts say expanded testing is critical to keeping watch for a resurgence of infections as states begin reopening. What’s lacking, both at the federal and state level, is a clear and coordinated long-term strategy, said Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a professor of public health at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

“You don’t manage a pandemic by waiting for people to come to you and raise their hand and say, ‘I have an idea and I’m willing to help,’” Heiman said.

The virus has killed more than 1,200 people in Georgia. Health officials have confirmed more than 29,300 infections statewide.

Acknowledging his own “frustration” with the lack of testing in Georgia, Kemp rolled out plans on April 20 to use National Guard troops as well as clinicians and other staff from Augusta University’s medical schools to dramatically ramp up testing. The same day, the governor announced some shuttered businesses would soon reopen with restrictions.

Although testing was initially limited to highrisk populations, such as the elderly and medical workers, Kemp is now encouraging anyone with flu-like symptoms to get tested for COVID-19, as well as grocery store, chicken plant and other essential workers who aren’t showing symptoms.

“Our goal is to use every single test we’ve got every single day,” Kemp said Thursday.

There have been signs of improvement. On April 20, the total number of people tested in Georgia was just over 84,300. By Monday, it had swelled to more than 183,000, according to the state Department of Public Health. Compared with other states, Georgia now ranks in the bottom 20 for per capita testing. It had previously been in the bottom 10.

Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, said Thursday that her agency’s goal is to have administered more than 200,000 total coronavirus tests by sometime this week.