State ‘testing blitz’ today
State’s goal is to check 10,000 residents for virus
For the third straight Saturday, Arizona today will conduct a COVID-19 “testing blitz” at more than 70 test sites in at least 11 counties. More than 5,400 diagnostic tests were completed May 2 and more than 9,700 on May 9, according to the state.
Arizona will hold its third “testing blitz” on Saturday at more than 70 test sites in at least 11 counties.
The blitz initially was scheduled for three consecutive Saturdays — May 2, May 9 and May 16 — with the goal of testing 10,000 to 20,000 people each of the three days. The Arizona Department of Health Services announced Friday the program will be extended an additional two weeks.
The state has fallen short of the 10,000 to 20,000 tests per Saturday goal so far, but Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said she’s been “very pleased with the results” of the blitz, because the results help the department understand how COVID-19 is spreading in Arizona.
More than 5,400 diagnostic tests were completed May 2 and more than 9,700 on May 9, according to the state.
The more than 70 sites scheduled to participate this Saturday is up from 32 sites the first weekend and more than 50 last weekend, according to Christ.
For a list of test locations and registration information, visit azhealth.gov/ testingblitz.
Most sites require preregistration while some are first-come, first-served. A few clinics are limited to existing patients, but most are open to anybody. At least one site requires a doctor’s order, but others are more widely available.
Testing criteria differ by provider, but tests are generally for people who show symptoms or think they have been exposed to COVID-19.
All tests are diagnostic tests, or PCR tests, meaning they search for an active infection with a nasal swab. The testing blitz does not include antibody tests, which are blood tests that theoretically could say if an individual has developed antibodies against COVID-19, suggesting that person has previously been infected.
As of Friday, the state health department said state and private laboratories had completed 142,001 diagnostic tests, with an average of 7.2% coming back positive.
Even with the recently expanded testing from the blitz, Arizona still trails the nation in tests completed.
Arizona ranked 50th out of 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico for its number of tests completed for 1,000 people, according to Kaiser
Family Foundation data as of Friday. Arizona has completed 18.5 tests per 1,000 residents, while the national average is 31.5 tests. Rhode Island tops the list with 95.9 tests per 1,000 people, followed by New York with 66.8 tests.
Christ said in part, this is explained by the fact Arizona wasn’t prioritized for test supplies early in the outbreak. She said testing has continued to increase as Arizona gradually got more test kits and supplies.
Christ said the testing blitz has been essential in leading to increased testing on weekdays. She believes the health department website’s list of test locations has led more people to visit test sites, boosting numbers every day.
“We’ve doubled the amount of tests that are being done per day in Arizona,” Christ said.
In weeks prior, 11,000 or 12,000 diagnostic tests were conducted per week across the state. Since the testing blitz announcement, that weekly number has risen to 20,000 and 30,000, Christ said. On a typical Saturday, the state previously saw around 800 tests completed; to get more than 5,000 in a Saturday blitz was “an incredible increase,” she said.
More than 30 test sites in six counties — Maricopa, Pima, Yuma, Yavapai, Coconino and Mohave — took part on May 2. Some saw lines, but most had relatively little waiting.
On May 9, the second Saturday, more than 50 test sites in nine counties offered diagnostic testing. One location was State Farm Stadium in Glendale, which was prepared to test 500 individuals over the course of the day in partnership with Dignity Health. 160 tests were conducted due to a lower demand.
Public health experts say the key to managing COVID-19 lies in an aggressive formula of testing, contact tracing and isolation of sick individuals and their close contacts.
“Testing, tracing and isolation is our only route, other than a vaccine, to getting life something closer to normal and saving the economy,” Michael Worobey, head of the University of Arizona’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an infectiousdisease expert, said in announcing the blitz program.
“I think people are kind of thinking that somehow the epidemic and the economy are at odds with each other, but the things that we need to do to sort out the epidemic are the things that we need to do to save the economy,” he said.
But Arizona’s 15 counties are at different levels of preparedness in terms of supplies and personnel needed to manage proper testing and contact tracing. Some are able to test adequately and trace all contacts of infected cases, while many others are struggling to keep up with test supplies or contact tracing resources.
White House reopening guidelines urge states to shore up “preparedness responsibilities” prior to reopening. These are testing and tracing, health care system capacity and plans for health and safety. Gov. Doug Ducey says Arizona is in phase one of the White House’s reopening plans, meaning he believes the state meets the above requirements in addition to case data metrics.
Anyone with questions about testing or other COVID-19 concerns in Arizona can call a statewide hotline for help: 844-542-8201.