Coronavirus blitz will continue today
In an effort to boost its COVID-19 testing numbers, Arizona has scheduled a second “testing blitz” today in at least nine counties and 37 different sites.
The blitz has a goal of testing 10,000 to 20,000 people each Saturday for three weekends in May.
Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona Department of Health Services director, this week gave a preliminary number of tests completed on May 2, which was the first day of the blitz: 6,500. State health officials did not respond to repeated requests for an updated total.
Testing criteria vary by site but in general it’s for people who have symptoms or who think they have been exposed.
Some sites require pre-registration, others are first-come, first-served and a few are at clinics reserving the testing for patients only. At least least one site requires a doctor’s order, but most do not.
A wide range of symptoms can signal COVID-19, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently added four new ones. In addition to fever, shortness of breath and a cough, signs of infection may include chills, muscle pain, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell, the CDC says.
The tests that are part of the blitz are diagnostic, often known as PCR or polymerase chain reaction; they are looking for active infection with a nasal swab sample.
The PCR tests are not the same as antibody tests, which are blood tests that theoretically tell someone if they have developed antibodies against the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 disease.
The two tests are often grouped under the category of “COVID-19 testing” but have different purposes, health officials emphasize.
To date, 96,434 Arizonans undergone PCR testing for COVID-19 infection and the Arizona Department of Health Services data says 8.1% have tested positive. Monitoring that percent of positive cases is important in gauging whether the level of disease is going down over time, some experts say.
The Kaiser Family Foundation as of Thursday listed Arizona 51st out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for its number of tests completed per 1,000 people. Arizona’s number is 12.6 per 1,000 people. The national average is 23.6 per 1,000.
Throughout the pandemic, it has been difficult for people with symptoms in Arizona to get a test unless they know they were exposed to an infected person, or they are part of a high risk group. For that reason, the number of positive tests in the state is likely an undercount.
Yuma site had 15 positive tests
For some areas of the state, a testing blitz is providing an unprecedented opportunity for people with symptoms to find out whether they are positive.
In northern Yuma last Saturday, patients waited and hour on average for a first-come, first-served drive-up test and between six and 10 people were turned away at the end, said David Rogers, CEO of Sunset Community Health Center, which has five main clinics in the Yuma area and operated the testing.
A total of 294 people ranging in age from children to seniors were tested in 3.5 hours, and preliminary data shows 15 tested positive, Rogers said. Up until May 2, the community health center had completed just 100 tests.
“Test kits have been slow to be made available in Yuma County for some reason. There are 210,000 people in the county, so there are still a lot of people,” Rogers said. “Testing is starting to become more available but up until our last event, it was just really hard.”
This weekend, Sunset Community Health Center will offer testing at its site in Somerton, about 12 miles southwest of Yuma. Rogers said the clinic will have 300 tests. On May 16, the center will have another 300 tests available at its clinic in San Luis, which is about 23 miles southwest of Yuma.
“As much as people need to be tested because they are potentially positive, I think the other aspect is for a peace of mind, just from an anxiety perspective,” he said. “Making testing available is extremely important.”
The test kits were donated from Sonora Quest Laboratories and the Yuma County Department of Public Health, Rogers said. Sunset Community Health Center asks for insurance information from people with insurance coverage, but no one is being asked to pay for a test, Rogers said.
Wait times were light on May 2
Testing will be in at least nine of Arizona’s 15 counties, up from six counties on May 2, according to the state’s testing blitz website.
In addition to Yuma County, the other counties scheduled to be part of the upcoming testing blitz Saturday are Maricopa, Pima, Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo, Apache, Mohave and Cochise.
Officials with Canyonlands Healthcare in Page held the first-ever drive-up testing in that community on May 2 and have testing scheduled for 12 hours today beginning at 7 a.m. Though cars were initially lined up for two hours on the first day, the lines had subsided by midday, officials said.
Yavapai Regional Medical Center did 251 tests at a site in Prescott Valley on May 2, spokeswoman Robbie Nicol said, and no lineups were reported. Nicol said that judging by social media, there appears to be more interest in today’s event.
Wait times were short at Native Health in Phoenix, which tested about 70 people at a walk-up site on May 2 and went through nearly all their available test kits for that day, spokeswoman Susan Levy wrote in an email. This weekend, Native Health will have 150 tests available. Like many sites, Native Health prefers people register ahead of time and bring identification with them, she wrote.
The Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe is ready to do 150 tests today and will also do testing on May 16, said Dr. Stephanie Seitz, a staff physician at the college. The college already had a stockpile of personal protective equipment and the tests are from LabCorp, Seitz said.
“If a patient is positive, they will get a call from our physician to go over the results with them,” Seitz said. “If it’s negative, like most health care facilities, we have a patient portal that patients can log into and obtain their results that way.”
The college wanted to help the state get as much testing done so that local residents can feel more comfortable about reopening the state, she said.
“I think more testing would set more peoples’ mind at ease,” she said. “With these testing blitzes, it’s really going to give us the opportunity to see how many people are positive.”
College officials want to test anyone who has symptoms right now, Seitz said, or who has been exposed to someone who is infected. Like other health providers, she stressed that the testing blitz is not for antibody testing.
No ‘significant decline’ in COVID-19 illness
Banner Health filled all 1,000 of its statewide appointments for the May 2 testing blitz and has 1,300 appointments available for today, officials said.
“We’ve already been doing quite a bit of testing and that has continued. We did participate in the Saturday blitz, but we are testing Monday through Friday,” said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical officer for Banner Health. “Our testing is going to continue for as long as it looks like we need it for taking care of the patients in the communities that we serve.”
Banner Health has five testing sites that are open during the week, not just for the blitz — one in Tucson and four in Phoenix. Its testing appointment line is 844-549-1851.
Bessel said there will be some adjustments to the drive-up test sites, including hours, with triple-digit heat, since the people doing the testing are wearing full PPE.
When asked whether there has been enough testing statewide to reopen Arizona, Maricopa County spokesman Fields Moseley replied that Gov Doug Ducey’s executive orders make it very clear that he is “the decision maker.”
“Maricopa County continues to comply with those executive orders,” Moseley said. “We do wish there was more testing in the community.”
Bessel of Banner Health said she understands the need to balance saving lives from COVID-19 illness with the economic impact on families. Economic wellbeing is associated with health, she said.
“My concern is that I do not believe that we have really had a significant decline in our COVID burden of illness in this state,” she said. “That said, we’re also not having a significant incline ... It’s been more of a plateau.”
Information about the testing, including pre-registration links, is available at azhealth.gov/TestingBlitz.
Anyone with questions about testing or other COVID-19 concerns in Arizona can call a statewide hotline for help: 844-542-8201.