Make rapid COVID-19 tests available to all

Not everything Colorado does is admirable — the state’s blatant attempt to steal the green chile crown comes to mind — but when it comes to making rapid coronavirus tests widely available, New Mexico and the rest of the country should pay attention.

In Colorado, the Rapid At-Home Testing Program allows state residents to order free over-the-counter tests. Results of the rapid antigen tests — Colorado is using Abbott BinaxNOW — are available within 15 minutes. The Colorado program, administered by the Department of Public Health and Environment, was designed to decrease the spread of the delta variant and to help keep schools open.

Consider, in New Mexico, what it might mean if rapid, at-home tests from the state Department of Public Health were available to all.

Parents could routinely test their schoolage children, not waiting for exposure. Someone with a sniffly nose or sore throat could test immediately, potentially limiting the spread. At homeless shelters, where guests without proof of vaccinations or negative test results can be turned away, individuals could take a rapid test instead.

With more frequent rapid testing, workplaces requiring proof of vaccination also could allow employees who refuse to get their shots the opportunity to test before work not once every seven days but several times during a work week.

The program is simple, too. Launched in September, some 1 million plus tests have been provided for workers, children and anyone who feels they need a test. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis spent $16 million to buy 2 million tests to get the initiative started.

With the program, people go online and fill out a form stating they live in Colorado; within 24 or 48 hours, individuals receive an email asking them to fill out a second form using a one-time code. There’s no insurance, no out-of-pocket payments, no reimbursements, no search for an available test site and no lack of access for rural residents who live far from testing sites.

A person fills out the form, and a few days later the tests — eight — show up. These rapid test results can’t be used in all situations — proof of being negative for the virus for travel purposes, for example — but they can help Colorado residents catch COVID19 early.

Nationally, President Joe Biden has announced a rapid testing program that is overly complicated, using reimbursements and health insurance. Never mind some 28 million Americans lack health insurance in the first place. Instead, he should put federal muscle into getting rapid tests in the hands of Americans. When the need for a test arises, a test should be at hand.

States like New Mexico should use federal pandemic dollars, buy rapid tests and make them available widely. By catching the spread of COVID-19 early — which tests do — it’s possible to slow the spread of the disease. Such rapid testing is widely available in other parts of the world and needs to become the norm in the United States.

With increased demand for rapid tests, manufacturing capacity must increase. That’s where federal government support will be essential. If states don’t take the initiative, cities and counties should buy and distribute rapid tests. COVID-19 is a stealth opponent. Testing brings the disease into the open, increasing our opportunity to stop it from spreading.