newsingle

News

February 1, 2021

DOH cancels agreement with Curative Labs for COVID-19 testing in LTC

At the beginning of this year, the Department of Health executed an agreement with Curative Labs, Inc. for COVID-19 testing in long-term care facilities. Today, the Department notified Curative of their decision to exercise the cancellation provisions in that agreement, effective February 12, 2021. Facilities have been notified that if they are currently using Curative test kits, specimens may not be sent after February 8, 2021, to ensure adequate time to process before February 12, 2021. The Department’s previous directive to facilities regarding the use of Curative tests in strict adherence to the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (as reiterated in the FDA’s Safety Communication) must be followed.

If facilities are in possession of unopened boxes from Curative, they have been asked to maintain those boxes unopened. The Department will provide instructions for disposition next week.

If a long-term care facility is in need of assistance with outbreak testing, they may complete this online form: Universal Testing Needs Assessment Form. Their request will be considered, and someone from the Long-Term Care Task Force will be in touch with them.

If a facility has a CLIA waiver and a Pennsylvania lab permit and is in need of Abbott BinaxNOW cards, they may send an email to ra-dhBinaxNOWtests@pa.gov. The facility’s point of contact’s name and email address along with the facility name and address must be included. 

If a facility does not have a laboratory engaged for COVID-19 testing, this list of laboratories is provided for informational purposes. Note that the facility would be responsible for any cost.

The Department’s intent is to provide a solution for COVID-19 surveillance and outbreak testing in long-term care facilities. Updates will be delivered as they are available. Any questions can be directed to ra-dhCOVIDtesting@pa.gov.

mailing Mailing List

Sign up to join our email list and receive updates from PALA.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.