A new partnership with IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook will triple Maine’s capacity to test for the coronavirus at its state laboratory in Augusta, state health officials and Gov. Janet Mills announced Thursday.
The partnership with IDEXX comes on the heels of the federal Food and Drug Administration’s emergency approval of a testing system developed by IDEXX’s Georgia subsidiary, OPTI Medical Systems.
The state is purchasing enough test kits to run 5,000 tests per week “for the foreseeable future,” adding to the state lab’s current capacity of 2,000 tests per week. In addition, IDEXX is loaning the state a testing instrument to allow the CDC to conduct more tests and is donating 3,500 test kits. Read more
