Mobile COVID-19 unit CATE kicks off commonwealth tour

Aug. 26--A new COVID-19 mobile testing unit kicked off its tour this week with a mission to provide testing, education and supplies to underserved communities across the commonwealth.

The Community-Accessible Testing and Education Mobile Response Unit, nicknamed CATE, made its grand debut outside the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency in Harrisburg on Tuesday.

The 40-foot long, 14-foot tall, 10 foot wide CATE will launch this week, offering up free testing and educational materials, in addition to masks and hand sanitizers, to provide much-needed assistance to minority, immigrant, and other underserved communities throughout the commonwealth. Numerous studies have shown that COVID-19 is affecting these groups at a disproportionate level.

Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said that the mobile unit is a product of a partnership between Latino Connection -- a marketing and communications and communications agency focused on educating and supporting the Latino community in the commonwealth -- the Pennsylvania Department of Health, High Mark Blue Shield, and the Independence Blue Cross Foundation.

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"We share a unified purpose of building health communities through access to care and education," Levine said. "When someone visits the CATE Mobile Unit, they will receive a COVID-19 test, as well as education about how to stop the spread of this contagious disease."

Tests will be processed in the state laboratory in Exton, which as a turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours.

Levine credited Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman's COVID-19 Response Task Force for Health Disparity for helping to facilitate connections between the DOH and organizations like the Latino Connection, which were essential to bringing the project to life.

George Fernandez, founder of Latino Connection, said that the vulnerable and underserved communities "has risen to a whole new level due to COVID-19," and that change is vitally important to combat the virus.

"Latino Connection feels passionately that something must change, and that time for change is now," Fernandez said. "In order to solve health care inequality and reach our vulnerable and underserved communities, we need to meet them where they are -- quite literally. We need a COVID-19 movement with wheels."

Fernandez said that CATE already has 30 scheduled stops arranged in 16 counties, focusing on the highest underserved populations, and that the mobile unit had made its first stop in Littlestown on Monday. Additional stops in York and Lancaster are set for this week.

Fernandez said that there are plans to continue the operation beyond the next two months with the assistance of the Department of Health, Highmark and Blue Cross.

Testing will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of health insurance coverage, and even illegal immigrants can get tested. Social distancing will be enforced at all stops.

Those interested in visiting CATE can look up her tour stops at catemobileunit.com. Hospitals and federally qualified health care systems can even make stop requests through the site.

Services offered at each stop may vary, with several offering only educational information and supplies. Access to testing may be limited based on available supplies, though anyone interested in what will be offered at a particular stop can email info@catemobileunit.com for more information.

In the northeast region of the state, CATE has scheduled stops for Monroe, Lehigh, Northampton and Luzerne counties lined up. The mobile unit will make its way to the Pocono YMCA in Stroudsburg on September 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., though only educational materials and supplies will be made available at this particular stop.

As of Wednesday, 1,657 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 43 probable cases, and 127 deaths have been reported in Monroe County.

Kathleen McKenzie, vice president of community affairs at Highmark Blue Shield, said that the CATE Mobile Unit made for "an excellent use of Highmark's charitable dollars," offering "broader accessibility to COVID-19 resource across the commonwealth."

"We know that socioeconomic factors, like lack of ability to providers and access to health education, effects up to 80% of an individual's health outcomes," McKenzie said. "It's no different in a pandemic, in fact, with this pandemic in particular, it is even further pronounced."

Lorina Marshall-Blake, president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, said that the education and testing offered through CATE will be essential to ending the devastation of the pandemic.

"We're very excited to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Latino Connection to address the need for increased COVID-19 testing in underserved communities throughout our region," Lorina Marshall-Blake, president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, said in a statement from the DOH.

Though daily case counts may be on the decline throughout the commonwealth, the pandemic is still prevalent across Pennsylvania -- as of Wednesday, the DOH reports a total of 130,536 cases across all counties, along with 7,624 deaths.

While COVID-19 initially struck seniors the hardest, cases have been increasing amongst younger age groups over the course of the pandemic, stressing the need for more education, testing, and supplies for everyone -- especially those in underserved and vulnerable populations, which CATE aims to address.

"I urge everyone to take advantage of this incredible community resource," Fernandez said. "We can all benefit from COVID-19 education so we can protect ourselves and the ones that we love. Through CATE, it is our goal to share facts to erase fear."

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