Seven governors unite in search of first multi-state testing strategy

(CNN) - A bipartisan group of seven governors have joined forces with the Rockefeller Foundation to reach a deal and run 3.5 million coronavirus antigen tests, helping to create the country's first coordinated testing strategy in the absence of a national plan.

Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, president of the National Association of Governors, negotiated the deal with the Rockefeller Foundation on "the first ever interstate testing pact of this kind among governors during the covid-19 pandemic," the office said. de Hogan in a statement Tuesday. The 3.5 million fastest acting tests would be a significant burden as many states face an increasing virus burden and a subsequent increase in test delays.

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Hogan, fellow Republican Governors Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Democratic Governors John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Ralph Northam of Virginia have signed the agreement, and "Additional states, cities and local governments may join the pact in the coming days and weeks."

Hogan later announced Tuesday that Democratic Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina would also join his state in the group.

In terms of logistics, the states involved "are in talks" with Becton Dickinson and Quidel, the US manufacturers of antigen tests approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), "to buy 500,000 tests for state, ”according to the statement. The Rockefeller Foundation "stands ready to help facilitate funding mechanisms to support" the compact.

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Most coronavirus tests look for the genetic material of the virus, require a number of chemicals, many of them in short supply, to function and can take hours to run. Meanwhile, antigen tests are simpler and potentially less reliable, but can provide results in minutes.

Health experts have called for faster test results for months to effectively track the spread of the virus, and some states, laboratories, and public health departments report that response times for diagnostic tests have slowed down. CNN reported last month that some test results took an average of four to six days for the general population or, in states like Arizona, up to three weeks.

The states deal also comes after the British government's acquisition of "millions" of coronavirus tests that can provide results in less than 90 minutes and detect several other common viruses, the Kingdom's Department of Health said on Monday. United.

Hogan, in particular, has lobbied to focus on testing since the start of the pandemic, acquiring half a million test kits with the help of his wife, Yumi, from South Korea, as the state faced outbreaks in April.

He warned last month that shortages and delays in coronavirus testing could worsen the pandemic, adding that Maryland is still working with tests from South Korea, but that it would probably have to ask for more.

"We still have, now with this revival here in the United States, big problems with our testing program, which is still a kind of mosaic of different tests in various states across the country," Hogan told CNN's Christiane Amanpour at the time.

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The states did not work together in their response to the pandemic, and formed their own regional pacts to collaboratively reopen the containment orders each had issued to limit the spread of the virus.

In April, the east coast states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts formed a regional task force, while the west coast states of California, Washington, and Oregon also announced that They would join forces to coordinate their approaches to confimation orders.

CNN's Arman Azad and Maeve Reston contributed to this report.

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