Discuss consider and take appropriate action on authorizing the County to pay for antibody testing related to COVID-19 for small fire departments and law enforcement agencies in Williamson County and exempting this purchase from the competitive bidding requirements per Texas Local Government Code Section 262.024.(a)(2).

The Court previously approved paying for antibody testing related to COVID-19 for EMS on May 12, 2020. Larger external public safety agencies in the county have paid to have their first responders tested. There has been a request from the Williamson County Fire Chiefs Association and smaller law enforcement agencies that have limited funding to seek the County's assistance to pay for antibody testing for these agencies. These antibody tests will help to determine if these first responders have IgG antibodies that is a marker for those that have had and recovered from an acute infection. This will help to identify if these first responders had a "silent infection". This information will be used to determine the extent to which the virus has penetrated into the first responder community. There are 261 firefighters and law enforcement personnel among these agencies seeking this antibody test. Each test costs $47.50. The total requested is $12,397.50 to purchase Antibody Test Kits from Front Line Mobile Health. Purchasing has been consulted on this agenda item.