Governor DeWine Gives Updates On FDA Reagent Approval, Testing Strike Team

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton, MD, MPH, provided the following updates on Ohio's response to the COVID-19 pandemic at yesterday's daily briefing.

(Columbus, Oh.) - Governor DeWine announced yesterday that a new testing reagent, which is a compound used to determine if COVID-19 is present in a sample, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Because reagents have been extremely limited, Ohio and other states have had limited testing capacity. On Sunday, Governor DeWine spoke with officials at the FDA and asked them to approve new types of reagents to allow Ohio to expand testing. Today, the FDA approved a new version reagent for Thermo Fisher's testing machines, which are used by most major labs in Ohio.

"This approval will greatly expand our state’s ability to increase our testing capacity," said Governor DeWine. "We are also working with other companies to make additional reagent kits available so we can continue to ramp up testing in Ohio."

Governor DeWine announced the formation a new strike team led by former Ohio governors Richard Celeste and Bob Taft that will work to find more reliable sources of reagent and testing supplies for COVID-19 testing in Ohio. 

"I am so pleased that Governor Celeste and Governor Taft have answered this call to help Ohio and did so without a moment’s hesitation," said Governor DeWine. "I am so grateful that they have agreed to partner together and use their networks, contacts, and life experiences to help us in the critical mission to get testing supplies."

The new Testing Strike Team will also include other leaders from business, academia, and public health to help Ohio source these testing reagents and supplies.

In-depth coronavirus data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov. 

Video of yesterday's full update, including versions with foreign language closed captioning, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel's YouTube page. 

For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.