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MAKO Medical Providing K-12 School COVID-19 Testing in Georgia

August 20, 2021

MAKO Medical has been selected as one of two testing partners to provide COVID-19 testing for all Georgia students and educators throughout the 2021/2022 school year.

“MAKO Medical is proud to help more schools around the country to safely reopen,” Josh Arant, Chief Operating Officer, MAKO Medical. “We have the resources and capacity to ensure fast and reliable testing, which is an important layer of prevention to protect our students and slow the spread of COVID-19 variants.”

Georgia K-12 COVID-19 testing is funded through a grant from the CDC and administered by the state of Georgia. School leaders must opt-in, or enroll to provide free COVID-19 screening testing for teachers, staff and students.

“Research shows regular weekly testing of students and educators reduces the spread of COVID-19 in schools by 50%,” said Arant.

“We all want to keep our schools safe and have peace of mind as we return to large group activities. Our MAKO team can make this happen by partnering with schools around the country to provide turnkey testing in a rapid, reliable way.”

“Our team will use an anterior nares nasal swab test that is quick and accurate,” said Steve Hoover, Vice President of Laboratory Operations, MAKO Medical. “This is just a shallow test in the nostril that is gentle and easy on kids.”

With the addition of Georgia, MAKO Medical is an official testing partner for three states. Earlier this month, MAKO Medical was selected to provide end-to-end COVID-19 testing services to K-12 schools in North Carolina and Kentucky. Just like Georgia’s ELC Reopening Schools program, the StrongSchoolsNC: K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program and the Kentucky K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program are federally-funded, opt-in programs designed to support safe, in-person instruction through screening testing.

Founded in 2014, MAKO Medical is a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited laboratory which has processed more than 8 million COVID-19 tests from more than 40 states, serving as the official testing partner for employers, public health departments, medical providers, and professional sports teams.

Company Highlights:

  • For the past two years, Forbes Magazine has included MAKO Medical in its inaugural list of America’s Best Startup Employers. Only 500 companies nationwide earned the distinction.
  • May 2021, the Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, NC recognized MAKO Medical with a 2021 Life Sciences Award for Best COVID-19 Research Company.
  • August 2020, MAKO Medical announced the company scored 100% on CAP COVID Proficiency Testing, demonstrating MAKO’s commitment to quality lab results.
  • Committed to the U.S. Military—At MAKO’s founding, leaders carved out divisions of the company to hire U.S. military veterans. These teams are foundational to MAKO’s elite and high-touch client services model. In November 2020, MAKO held its first Veterans Day lunch to honor veterans. The company served a free meal to all Vance County veterans and their family members. INCLUDED PHOTO: July 2021, MAKO Medical team members conducting COVID-19 K-12 tests.