COVID-19 Testing Resources for K-12 Public School

This is an emergency procurement issued on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) to establish a comprehensive COVID-19 Testing Program for K-12 public schools throughout the State of Arkansas. The selected contractor will be responsible for providing onsite PCR testing, lab pool testing, genomic sequencing for identifying COVID-19 variants, and 24-hour turnaround time from specimen collection to results reporting. The contractor must be a CLIA certified laboratory with experience providing minimally invasive COVID-19 PCR testing, preferably in school settings. Pricing must be provided for individual PCR tests, rapid antigen tests, pooled sample testing, and onsite specimen collection. The contractor will also be required to host and maintain a web-based portal for reporting and administration, and provide weekly quality assurance reports to ADH. The evaluation process will include an interview with the top-ranked prospective contractors.

The solicitation has an expedited submission and evaluation process, with a due date for responses of October 6, 2021 at 2:00 PM Central Time. The anticipated contract start date is October 15, 2021, with an initial term of one year and the option to renew for up to six additional one-year terms. No set-aside designations or restrictions on the types of organizations that can respond were provided in the given materials. The incumbent contractor and any existing infrastructure or technology requirements are also not specified. The potential award value or budget range for this emergency procurement was not included.