Health & Fitness
60K COVID Self-Test Kits To Be Distributed In Cobb County
Cobb commissioners approved just over $816,000 for the purchase of over 60,000 COVID-19 self-test kits to be given out in the coming weeks.
COBB COUNTY, GA — Cobb County commissioners have given the go-ahead for county leaders to purchase and distribute more than 60,000 COVID-19 self-test kits to the public in next few weeks.
In a 4-1 vote, commissioners approved the purchase of the 60,480 iHealth home tests at Tuesday's Board of Commissioners meeting, with Commissioner Keli Gambrill voting in opposition.
The first planned distribution event is set for Monday, Jan. 17 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said. Tests will be free to the public and available from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Jim Miller Park in Marietta.
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The Cobb Emergency Management Agency already bought the tests for $816,480 — a cost of $13.50 per kit — under the powers of the county's emergency declaration, which was issued Dec. 22 and allows for the EMA to approve emergency actions deemed necessary to address public health issues in the county. Tuesday's vote was just ratifying the purchase by the board.
Gambrill took issue with the way the tests were purchased. The tests will be paid for using money from the general fund that was freed up due to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act money. Cobb used the last of the CARES Act money to cover paychecks for public safety employees, which left extra money in the general fund for contingency use, Finance Director Bill Volckmann said.
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Under CARES Act funding guidelines, the county had to use all the CARES Act funding by the end of 2021. Gambrill said communication from the county indicated that the tests would be bought with CARES Act money, calling it a "shell game."
Volckmann clarified that the pot of using the CARES Act money for public safety salaries was to allow money in the general fund to be used for pandemic-related issues that carried on past 2021.
The decision to distribute home test kits comes just a few days after the Georgia Department of Public Health opened a mega COVID-19 testing site, also at Jim Miller Park. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The site closes from 12:30-1 p.m. for lunch each day.
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