Zak Khan, the owner of a northside toxicology lab who provided New York City with 50,000 coronavirus test kits criticized Indiana state officials Friday for not accepting his offer to help test more Hoosiers for the COVID-19 virus.
In an interview with Indianapolis Monthly, Khan, a Carmel resident who owns Aria Diagnostics, alleged the state “belittled” his company.
“They don’t have to use us,” Khan said. “We’re just a small company with two partners. We’re not a billion-dollar company like Eli Lilly. I would expect the state department of health to support small businesses. Not hurt us.”
In a press conference last week, Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana’s State Health Commissioner, questioned Aria Diagnostic’s ability to report results in a timely fashion to the state.
According to Khan, those comments came the same day he delivered the kits to the state. “I hadn’t even received a thank you,” he says. “I was trying to reach out with an olive branch. I was very angry.”
On Friday evening, after an Indianapolis Monthly story raised questions about the state’s alleged refusal of tens of thousands of tests from Aria, the Indiana State Department of Health said in a release that they had not “declined any offers of swabs from Aria Diagnostics.”
In its statement, the ISDH noted it “has been working diligently to acquire testing supplies and expand testing through partnerships with Eli Lilly and the addition of other labs” and that swabs donated by Aria would help to increase the state’s testing capacity.
Khan, though, never suggested that the state turned down swabs. Instead, he told Indianapolis Monthly, the state rejected his offer of tests, similar to what he supplied to New York City.
Asked to clarify the apparent discrepancy, Jennifer O’Malley, a spokesperson for the state health department said: “Dr. Box never rejected any supplies that would help increase testing in Indiana. She was extremely appreciative of the swabs donated and informed Mr. Kahn that we had viral transport media covered and did not want to take those supplies from others who needed them.”
What the Sweet Hell Does it all Mean?
Basically, the state wasn’t interested in testing asymptomatic people. At the time, they were only interested in testing people who are SEVERELY symptomatic and clearly suffering from the virus.
But Wait. Aren’t Asymptomatic People a Greater Risk to Spreading the Infection Since They’re Not Going to be Quarantined or Treated Prior to Diagnosis?
Yes.
But Wait. Don’t We Need to Test as Many People as Possible to Get Accurate Data?
Yes.
But Wait. Didn’t Governor Eric Holcomb Extend the Shutdown to May 1st Amid Concerns About Transmission of the Disease?
Yes.
But Wait. So Wouldn’t Testing MORE People be a GOOD Idea, Probably Put Us Back to Work Sooner, and Reduce a LOT of the Unknown Risks?
Yes.
But Wait. Hasn’t There Been a Lot of Talk About a Shortage of Test Kits?
Yes.
But Wait. Don’t the Chicks on the Right Have Anything to Say About This?
Yes, they do. Click below.
https://omny.fm/shows/chicks-on-the-right/speed-round-indiana-reportedly-turned-down-100-000
