WENDELL — The town is exploring ways to get more rapid COVID-19 tests as the omicron variant continues to spread rapidly.
Selectboard member Gillian Budine, speaking during a meeting last week, said she and Board of Health Chair Barbara Craddock have heard municipalities can use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to purchase test kits for their communities.
“Hearing the number of residents in town … who are struggling to find test kits or be able to afford to purchase test kits, made me think it might be a really good use of some of our ARPA funds, that it would be a great service to be able to offer to our community,” Budine said.
The Selectboard plans to talk with Craddock at Wednesday’s meeting and decide on a course of action.
Wendell had received 270 free tests from the state, but those were doled out nearly as quickly as they came in.
“And they were gone like that,” Budine said, snapping her fingers.
She said she wonders if it is possible for Wendell to partner with a similarly-sized town in the area to purchase and dispense test kits.
“What is challenging is that some of the contractors that you can purchase through, you can only get, like, a pallet of tests, which would be way more tests than we would want to manage or purchase,” she said, adding that supply would be limited because all municipalities are doing what Wendell is right now.
Selectboard Chair Dan Keller asked about the kits’ costs, and Budine said they range from $5 to $19. She said the cheaper kits likely contain one test and the more expensive kits likely consist of two. She mentioned free PCR testing is available at Greenfield Community College and in Amherst, as well as by ordering one from the state. She mentioned Swift River School tests students each Tuesday, with results typically returned on Thursday.
Selectboard member Laurie DiDonato, who said Ralph C. Mahar Regional School students receive rapid tests if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19, wondered if residents could be charged for kits as a way to recoup costs and buy more tests.
Doug Tanner, serving as interim town coordinator following the resignation of Alisha Brouillet in November, mentioned demand for tests might drop slightly now that the holidays are over. He said the Board of Health had been tasked with dispensing the 270 free tests from the state and he noted many people said they needed a test because they planned to visit relatives for the holidays.
Tanner had also asked Selectboard members if it would be permissible for the town to purchase test kits to be distributed by Good Neighbors, a volunteer-driven food pantry serving Wendell and New Salem residents. Keller responded that he did not think that would create legal issues.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.