Staff Reports
Disaster Management Group was among the first to send aid to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Abaco Islands. The South Florida-based company hasn’t forgotten the nation in the months since.
The Bahamas recently put in an order for rapid coronavirus tests from DMG. The tests arrived on Saturday, but the nation got more than they asked for — the company donated an extra 10% to bolster the country’s response efforts.
“The people of The Bahamas have a special place in our hearts after having worked with them to respond, recover and rebuild after Hurricane Dorian,” DMG CEO Tom Rubio said. “Now, as they continue to rebuild, the nation is faced with a new challenge in COVID-19. We’re proud to continue to support The Bahamas in this new role, and we’ll continue to do so in the months ahead.”
The company is behind DMGtest, which can detect coronavirus antibodies in a patient’s blood. The tests are about 90% accurate and return results in about 15 minutes. Other tests, which confirm infection by detecting coronavirus DNA, can take up to two weeks.
Rapid testing is seen as an avenue to help reopen economies — the ability to quickly determine who has the virus and where they’ve been opens the door for a hyperlocal approach to containment rather than state or countywide stay-at-home orders.
Through the company’s accompanying software, DMGapp, evaluate their own symptoms for COVID-19, schedule an appointment for a test, check in for the appointment and track ongoing symptoms. Public health officials can use it to track results and identify hotspots.
In addition to its relief efforts, DMG also announced it giving the nation’s Ministry of Health access to the app and partnering up with Promero to get Bahamian health officials up to speed on how to use it.
“One of our priorities is to help nations get safely back to work,” said Gregg Troyanowski, president of Promero. “We developed this app to help governments determine when it is safe for individuals to return to work. The data collected through the app protects the privacy of the individual but informs leadership of the population’s exposure and infection rates so they can make informed decisions.”
In addition to tests and tech, DMG announced it was activating its DMGfeed service to transport food supplies from the United States to the Bahamas and from the larger islands to the keys. IDEA Relief, a Bahamian nonprofit organization, is coordinating the effort.
“The people of The Bahamas have faced so many challenges in the last year. Many have lost their homes and their jobs,” said Will Tomlinson of IDEA Relief. “We’re here to make sure they are nourished so they can care for their loved ones during this difficult time and continue to rebuild when not in the country wide lockdown.”
