Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard wants to help stop the spread of coronavirus in Carmel as Hamilton County positive cases continue to rise.

His response: coronavirus testing for all of Carmel's city employees, and weekly testing for those who interact with the public.

Carmel will pay for all of its roughly 700 employees to get tested through a private lab using the city's private health insurance. His top priority is first responders such as police and firefighters, those performing building inspections, those who work with wastewater and other public-facing employees.

Brainard said the city also will pay for family members of employees with positive tests to get tested themselves.

Indianapolis lab Aria Diagnostics is charging the city of Carmel $150 per test, lower than the $175 listed for the general public on the company's website.

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Carmel most likely has enough money in its health insurance fund to pay for the tests and won't have to dip into other funds or raise rates, Brainard said.

He emphasized the need for weekly testing for those who interact with the public because there is a possibility for false negatives and someone could easily become infected at any point.

"This isn’t an all-clear. They still have to social distance," Brainard said. "They could also get tested and 10 minutes later touch a door knob."

So far six Carmel firefighters and two police officers have tested positive for coronavirus. An additional 36 street department workers were placed on leave earlier this week and are awaiting coronavirus test results after Brainard learned that two cashiers at a local gas station that many street department workers visit daily tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

This widespread testing isn't just to help Carmel employees. It should help everyone if spreading can be slowed, Brainard said.

"If we can identify people who have the COVID-19 virus, then we can better prevent the spread," Brainard said. "This is what the US would have been able to do if tests had been available six weeks ago.”

Brainard said he didn't make the decision to offer widespread testing without medical input, reaching out to the Indiana State Department of Health and hospitals to make sure there were enough tests for patients and health care workers first.

In Indianapolis, Eli Lilly and Co. has offered free testing for first responders, but there is no widespread testing like the kind Brainard plans for Carmel employees.

"On the advice of county and state public health agencies," said Taylor Schaffer, Mayor Joe Hogsett's spokeswoman, "we will continue to offer testing to frontline city employees who are presenting symptoms or who have come into close contact with someone who is a known positive."

Earlier this week Eli Lilly expanded who is eligible for testing to include workers deemed essential by the state who have regular public contact as part of their job. While these individuals will need a doctor's note and appointment, they do not need to be experiencing symptoms to be tested.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.