COVID-19 Pandemic
Operational Implementation of Operation Expanded Testing in the Midwest Region Daniela Pusl* Daniela Pusl Lisa V. John Nancy McMillan Jeanne Ohrnberger Beverly Roberts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and US Health and Human Services (HHS) established Operation Expanded Testing (OpET), a nationwide surveillance and testing program to rapidly identify COVID-19 cases, reduce exposure, address outbreaks, and control spread of disease, in 2021. The Midwest Coordination Center (MCC), 1 of 3 OpET coordination centers, focused on making testing accommodating, effective, and accessible.
MCC organized staff and resources to support outreach and coordination in 16 states. MCC operations incorporated human and technological solutions to enable strong and continuous operational efficiency. MCC activated liaisons at state and local levels to conduct outreach, exchange information and coordinate with existing state and local programs and established physician and laboratory networks to order and perform tests. MCC’s IT systems provided the digital platform to rapidly deploy processes, guidance, testing information, client support, and program data to maximize easy-to-implement testing procedures.
MCC enrolled 3357 sites, more than half the sites in the national program (n=6305) and conducted 2,671,972 tests in 19 months. MCC was able to serve areas with high demand and address gaps in testing accessibility for underserved populations, including communities with a Social Vulnerability Index >0.5 (n=429) and high-risk populations, such as long-term care and nursing home facilities (n=498). The average turnaround time was 21.8 hours, meeting CDC’s 24-hour turnaround goal, with an average of 5329 tests per day.
MCC successfully established COVID-19 testing coordination across 16 states, addressing critical public health needs by identifying risks in asymptomatic, symptomatic, and confirmed positive cases to facilitate prompt action to reduce spread. The program enhanced COVID-19 testing availability in schools, underserved populations, and congregate settings, aiding in the reduction of spread and assisting with curbing outbreaks.