AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Seeing a chance to help amid a shortage of kits to test people for the coronavirus, Dr. Jeffrey James dedicated a 3D printer at the dental college where he teaches to churning out nasal swabs at a rate of 300 per day.
Then Georgia officials working with Gov. Brian Kemp heard about the project. They asked James if he could crank up swab production even more – to 5,000 daily.
“I said yes,” James recalled, “then I left the meeting and had a panic attack.”
Now seven printers with names like Mighty Mouse and Sonic 1 and 2 hum constantly in a room on the third floor of Augusta University’s dental school. Volunteering dental residents, endodontists, orthodontists and oral surgeons rotate between two daily 12-hour shifts, even on weekends, to meet the demand.
The production push is one way Georgia is scrambling to catch up on COVID-19 testing after the Republican governor lifted shelter-at-home orders for most people and allowed hair salons, gyms, tattoo parlors and bowling alleys to reopen and restaurants to resume dine-in service.