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Walgreens wants to keep track of coronavirus pandemic, omicron with its new COVID-19 Index

Walgreens has a new prescription for improving COVID-19 reconnaissance and tracking of the dominant omicron variant: its own Walgreens COVID-19 Index.

The new tracking tool, which the pharmacy chain launches Wednesday, will reflect results at 5,000 Walgreens locations across the U.S. and provide national and state-by-state updates of the spread of omicron and other variants.

In addition to tracking confirmed COVID cases by state, the COVID-19 Index will also reflect the presumed percentage of omicron cases by state, in near real-time. A fraction of the PCR tests taken at Walgreens locations and processed by Aegis Sciences Corp., will check for a specific genetic marker associated with omicron and have that data updated into the index within 24 to 48 hours.

While not representative of every case, state by state, the COVID-19 Index contributes nationwide data "that can drive down into the state level … and make it actionable," Dr. Kevin Ban, chief medical officer for Walgreens, told USA TODAY.

"That is something that we have not had … (and) that we have to continue to develop in this country," he said. "I'm not saying this is the definitive end-all, but this is the type of direction we need to take as a country so that we can identify and better understand what's happening, where it's happening, and what are the mitigation techniques that we can take in order to decrease the spread of the virus."

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All data presented in the Walgreens COVID-19 Index is aggregated and identities of those tested are anonymized to protect privacy, Walgreens says.

The index also tracks other variants such as Delta and will incorporate surveillance of future variants, Ban said.

Not all patients who are tested at Walgreens will be reflected in the index, because they may be getting other COVID tests and tests not processed by Aegis Sciences, he said. In all, Walgreens has more than 9,000 drugstores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

But enough testing data is collected "to get a sense for not only, the positivity rate, but also a sense for what's the variant, where is it changing," Ban said. "And we can real-time track what's happening, and that's valuable."

In an early case of how tracking can differ, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday showed the omicron variant accounted for 99.5% of all U.S. cases. But the Walgreens COVID-19 Index's data suggests more than 95% of all positive COVID-19 cases are presumed to be the Omicron variant.

Other data from Walgreens new index:

  • The top states for COVID-19 positive rates are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Dakota, Nevada and Texas – all with COVID-19 positivity rates over 45%.

  • The Delta variant is still active in some states including Maine, where 43.5% of cases are confirmed as Delta; Kansas (36.5%); Iowa (29.3%); New Mexico (25.2%) Oklahoma (24.2%); Indiana (23.6%); and Utah (23.5%)

  • Unvaccinated people and those who have not received a second or third dose within the last five months accounted for the highest positivity rates.

Fast tracking of the spread of variants will help communities respond more quickly, said Dr. Matthew Hardison, Aegis Sciences' senior vice president of lab operations.

When a PCR test sample arrives, Aegis Sciences can detect whether the S-gene marker is present or not within 12 hours – much faster than waiting for secondary analysis, which can take a week, he said. The omicron variant does not have that marker "due to multiple mutations that the variant has undergone," Hardison said.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Walgreens COVID-19 Index: Pharmacy unveils own pandemic tracking tool