Another virus spike
Testing demand, delays mounting
Southern Nevada residents are facing delays in getting an appointment for COVID-19 testing as demand increases amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
Additionally, public testing sites are slated to close for two days for Thanksgiving.
As of Monday afternoon, University Medical Center’s website was showing the earliest appointments for testing at Cashman Center aren’t until Dec. 1. And the Southern Nevada Health District doesn’t have openings at its testing location until
Dec. 2.
Testing sites at Texas Station, Cashman Center and the health district are closed Thursday and Friday, health district spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel said. She didn’t immediately have information Monday about wait times for COVID-19 testing appointments.
The two-day hiatus at the public sites that offer free testing comes as coronavirus case numbers continue to rise. On Monday, the seven-day average for new cases in Nevada exceeded 2,000 for the first time, and the state has reported 136,227 total cases.
On Sunday, Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered a three-week “statewide pause” starting Tuesday that includes reduced gathering sizes and stricter mask usage requirements, but no additional business closures.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, COVID-19 testing is slated to resume Saturday at Texas Station and Cashman Center, according to a testing calendar posted on the health district’s website. Some sites recommend or require appointments. Appointments are recommended for Cashman Center via University Medical Center’s website and required for the health district site. There aren’t appointments for Texas Station, but preregistration on the health dis
trict’s website is recommended.
The Thomas & Mack Center testing site closed Tuesday to relocate to the university’s Stan Fulton Building, and the testing site will open to the public Monday.
UNLV epidemiologist Brian Labus, who serves on Gov. Steve Sisolak’s COVID-19 medical advisory team, said Monday that demand for COVID-19 testing continues to increase.
“Statewide, we have the highest percent positive rate and the greatest number of positives we have seen in the pandemic to date,” he wrote
in an email to the Review-journal. “This means that a lot more people are getting tested, so it may be difficult to find a same day appointment depending on where you are going.”
The number of daily tests conducted has increased about 50 percent in Clark County compared with a month ago, he said.
As of Monday, the average number of tests per day per 100,000 residents in Clark County was 379 — the largest number since Aug.
19, the oldest information available on an online dashboard from the Nevada Department of Health and
Human Services. The average number has increased every week since late September.
In a Monday news release, the Southern Nevada Health District said: “As COVID-19 case counts and positivity rates increase in
Clark County, so is the demand for testing.”
The health district continues to recommend testing for those with COVID-19 symptoms or close contact with a confirmed or possible case, those who spent time in a large group setting where people weren’t wearing face masks or maintaining social distancing, and those who plan to visit someone at high risk of illness.
University Medical Center released a statement Friday about the increase in demand for COVID-19 testing. UMC’S testing policy has been in place for several months, spokesman Scott Kerbs told the Review-journal, but hospital officials felt it was important to provide a reminder during this period of increased demand.
“Please save the available public testing appointments for community members with symptoms of COVID-19 and those who have been exposed to the virus,” according to the statement.