
Nassau cop union chief: Police need new rapid virus tests

Nassau PBA president James McDermott Credit: Howard Schnapp
The president of Nassau County's largest police union said officers and other first responders still don't have access to 20,000 rapid results COVID-19 antibody tests the county purchased earlier this month to help prevent spread of the coronavirus among law enforcement officers.
Nassau County ordered the 20,000 test kits, which provide results through a finger-prick in as few as 15 minutes, from Melville-based medical supplier Henry Schein Inc. The tests cost $660,000 and were earmarked for the county's first responders.
James McDermott, of the Police Benevolent Association, said county officials had said the rapid results tests would be available last week, but officers still don't have access to the finger-prick tests. McDermott said he's received no information on a timeline for when the tests will be put into use.
"It appears the county didn't do their homework and jumped into something before they should have," said McDermott. "It takes too long to get the cops in for the tests and it take too long to find out if they’ve been infected. It’s great in theory that they bought these [rapid results] tests, but if you can’t use them, what good are they?"
Already, 148 Nassau police officers have tested positive for coronavirus and 44 correction officers at the Nassau County jail have tested positive, according to County Executive Laura Curran.
Nassau Police Det. Let. Richard LeBrun, a spokesman for Ryder, said the new rapid results tests must pass the validation test.
“If they do not, we will not be purchasing the tests,” LeBrun said. “The funds have been approved; however, they have not been spent.”
Curran, during her daily coronavirus news briefing Thursday, addressed the importance of the rapid antibody test.
"I'm feeling the anxiety about the approval of a finger-prick test," Curran said. "I understand that it's being tested for validation right now as we speak. ...We're very eager to get those approvals and validations done."
Christine Geed, a spokeswoman for Curran, said the mandatory process to validate the new rapid results test, which involves a lab essentially “testing the test” to ensure accuracy, could take two to three weeks.
However, she said, police officers still have access to standard COVID-19 testing at Nassau University Medical Center.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder has said any officer experiencing suspected coronavirus symptoms will be "fast-tracked" for a test through the department's medical administrative office. Those tests take several days to receive a result.
"They can still get tested and they still are being tested," said Geed. "Any law enforcement officer, first responder, who comes and notes they are feeling symptoms, they are being tested immediately."
Curran and Ryder had previously said the finger-prick tests were awaiting approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration.
But Henry Schein said in a written statement announcing the test that the FDA established a policy of not objecting to the development and distribution by commercial manufacturers of tests that identify coronavirus.
"Because the coronavirus presents a public health emergency, serology tests for the coronavirus, like the Standard Q COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test, are not currently required to go through FDA’s typical clearance or approval processes, nor do they require Emergency Use Authorization (EUA)," the statement said.
The 15-minute finger prick antibody tests, once validated by the state, will be administered at NUMC, Geed said.
Asked about the process of getting the rapid results tests in-use, Anthony Boutin, President/CEO, Nassau University Medical, declined to provide a timeline.
“We are still in the process of establishing protocols with cooperation from other hospitals, specifically Northwell’s testing lab. We cannot comment any further at this time,” he said in a statement.