The city’s police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians will be among the first in the nation to be tested with a new coronavirus kit that will determine if they are sick within 15 minutes, the city’s medical director said Tuesday.
Dr. Peter Antevy said Coral Springs’ first responders who are showing signs of coronavirus sickness will be tested through the new blood-based test, instead of the widely used nasal- and throat-swab test whose results can take days to determine.
The City of Coral Springs has purchased 2,500 FaSTEP test kits manufactured by Assure Tech. They are expected to arrive early next week and will immediately be used to test ailing first responders, Dr. Antevy said.
Multiple tests can be done days apart to help improve accuracy.