City of Brownsville to add laboratory for testing
SCREENSHOT TAKEN BY ROXANNA MIRANDA FROM THE OCT. 20 BROWNSVILLE CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING VIA FACEBOOK LIVE
Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER
The Brownsville City Commission awarded a $460,000 contract Tuesday to the University of Texas School of Public Health for a certified laboratory for COVID-19 testing and other potential public health crises to be paid for by CARES funding.
The partnership between the University of Texas School of Public Health and the city will allow for the school to develop a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Certified Laboratory in Brownsville, according to the agenda documents.
Ramiro Gonzalez, director of government and community affairs, said this is a proposal to not only have additional testing capacity for COVID-19 but for the community to be sustainable.
“In other instances, in other public health emergencies, having a lab here locally, [run] by an institution like University of Texas health school, is extremely important,” Gonzalez said. “So, we look at this investment not only as an investment for today, but it is an investment for the future.”
The lab will provide efficient, effective and quicker test results and expand COVID-19 testing at a lower price, have a positive economic impact resulting in the creation of local jobs, increase the access to health care and have less dependence on state and federal infrastructure, according to the agenda documents.
Other notifiable conditions that can be tested in the lab include hepatitis A/B/C, HIV and STDs, influenza, measles, polio, rabies and yellow fever.
Belinda Reininger, regional dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville, said the time it would take to get the equipment to the new lab would be about six to eight weeks.
In other business, the city commission authorized Brownsville Metro to provide free bus rides to voting locations on Nov. 3.
Last February, Cameron County Democratic Women President Teresa Saldivar and colleague Melva Perez presented to the Brownsville Metro Transit Advisory Committee that one of the main reasons there is not a greater turnout of voters is the transportation needed for the public to access the voting polls.
Brownsville Metro will provide free rides on fixed routes to encourage citizens needing transportation to go vote. All passengers will need to continue to adhere to city guidelines and wear facial coverings. Ridership will be limited to no more than the seating capacity of each bus.
