Ohio National Guard to help Dayton Children’s COVID test site in Springboro

Dayton Children’s will receive help from the Ohio National Guard at its Springboro COVID-19 testing site, allowing the site to triple its capacity.

The 20 guard members will help the testing site as the area continues to see increased demand. The National Guard will train with Dayton Children’s staff for up to a week to ensure samples are delivered to labs in a correct and efficient manner. Dayton Children’s staff will run the tests and return the results.

With the guard members’ help, the testing site is expected to be able to process nearly 800 COVID tests a day. Previously, staff was returning around 200 to 300 tests a day, according to Dayton Children’s.

The facility, located at 3300 W. Tech Road, will only offer PCR tests, which will be free.

“We are so thankful to Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio National Guard for their support and partnership,” said Deborah A. Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital. “It is only through collaboration like this that we are better able to serve our community and get through this together.”

The state is also investing in a high-capacity instrument in its regional lab at Dayton Children’s south testing site, which will also increase testing availability. It can process up to 5,000 PCR coronavirus tests a day, according to Dayton Children’s.

Because these changes will likely increase wait times at the Springboro facility, Dayton Children’s reminded the public that testing is also available by appointment at its Dayton location at 884 Valley St. and Troy location at 865 W. Market St. For more information, visit https://www.childrensdayton.org/covidtesting.

From Jan. 2-9, Dayton Children’s had 51 patients and 11 PICU patients test positive for COVID. Every child admitted to Dayton Children’s is tested for COVID, regardless of the reason they were admitted.

Of the 3,981 tests administered during that same time period, 1,361 people tested positive for a positivity rate of 34%. During the previous week Dayton Children’s reported a test positivity rate of 26% with 2,630 tests being administered and 672 returning as positive.

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