Evers announces partnerships to double coronavirus testing in Wisconsin

MADISON - Wisconsin is hoping to double its testing capacity for the novel coronavirus through a partnership with laboratories throughout the state.

Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday a public-private partnership with Exact Sciences, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Promega and UW Health to share knowledge, resources and technology with the Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network to bring additional testing capacity, according to a press release.

So far, the Wisconsin Clinical Lab Network has been completing 1,500 to 2,000 tests per day, the release said. The expanded partnership is expected to double that amount as supplies become available.

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Evers said in the release that those working on testing systems to ensure that Wisconsin doesn't have a backlog of tests have gone above and beyond, but said that the number of tests needed is growing quickly.

"But even with these combined efforts, unfortunately, we know all too well that as this disease spreads there will be significant pressure on our labs to keep pace with testing," he said in the release.

As of Sunday, there were 1,153 confirmed cases of the virus in Wisconsin, according to the state's Department of Health Services website. So far, 18 people have died as of Monday.

Though additional tests will be available, tests will still only be administered after an order from a doctor, the release said. The labs where the tests are being created are also not testing sites.

Though the partnership will be able to bring more tests to the state and those who need them, there will be struggles with manufacturing the number needed to keep up with the infection due to shortages of supplies.

“While I am excited to announce these critical partnerships that will increase our capacity to fight this outbreak in Wisconsin, there are still very real challenges to obtaining supplies of critical laboratory materials,” Evers said in the release.

“The rapid spread of COVID-19 in other parts of the country and world are making these important supplies scarce, but with our new partners, and through the state’s ongoing efforts to obtain these materials from the federal government and through the private market, we are working day and night to reinforce our sources of these supplies.”

In the meantime, Evers asked residents to stay home as much as possible, stay at least six feet away from other people, wash their hands regularly, avoid touching their face, eyes, nose and mouth and cover any sneezes or coughs to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

For more information about the virus in Wisconsin, visit the Department of Health Services COVID-19 informational website.

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@gannett.com and twitter.com/SchulteLaura.