The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
COMBATING COVID-19
Testing event draws full registration; mayor lauds community health action
“If we’re going to help defeat the virus, we have to ramp up testing so people can quarantine” — State Rep. Kent Smith
For the second time in less than a month, the city of Euclid held free on-site novel coronavirus testing for residents in an effort to combat the illness and lower the amount of documented cases.
In conjunction with Metro Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Euclid church organization Faith in the City, state Rep. Kent Smith, DEuclid, said he was proud to help bring community checkups to Ohio’s 8th House district.
Smith also facilitated bringing a testing event to East Cleveland recently.
“Testing is one of the critical strategies to defeat COVID-19,” he said. “Unfortunately, it has not been available to nearly enough Ohioans.
“These events will help change that painful reality. We will get through this together, but we still have a long road to travel.
“If we’re going to help defeat the virus, we have to ramp up testing so people can quarantine, and that’s how you get the transmission rate to the point where you can reopen everything, or, at least, more things, safely,” Smith added. “I’ve been raising my voice in Columbus that we have to get more testing done, so I’m happy to partner with these folks.”
Held at C.E. Orr Ice Arena, the second Euclid testing site capped at 150 people.
After checking in, registrants visited pop-up medical stations where nasopharyngeal culture tests were conducted in mere minutes.
Faith in the City’s Chris Smith, who is also senior pastor of Restoration Ministries of Greater Cleveland, noted that results of the testing are available in 72 hours, a timely detail she appreciates.
“Many testing sites are simply a show,” she said, adding Faith in City also put together packets including masks, hand sanitizer and gloves in efforts to encourage responsible and healthy conduct.
“Some results come back a week or two later and by that time it’s worth nothing. We are disappointed we could only have 150 sign up, but it’s better than nothing.”
The news of additional testing was well-received, evidenced by a fast response, said Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail.
“The previous testing at Imani (United Church of Christ) was a positive step forward for the community, so we knew this one would fill up fairly quickly,” she said.
“We wanted to make this available to the residents of Euclid because the knowledge is important.
“It’s a stressful time. People are nervous, especially given that you can be asymptomatic and pass the virus on unknowingly,” Gail added. “However, masking and other efforts are helping.”
Rep. Smith echoed Gail’s comment, adding continued testing allows communities and health boards to accurately gauge data while shifting safety protocols.
“If we had a vaccine that was 85 percent effective, people would be climbing all over themselves,” he said. “You tell them a mask is 85 percent effective, and they say, ‘ .... that’s my freedom!’ “
Cuyahoga County recently decreased to Orange Level 2 on the state’s Public Health Advisory System to track COVID-19, the lowest the county has been listed since the alert system was created in July.
“Hopefully, collective actions like today will continue that downward trend,” Gail said.
Agreeing with Rep. Smith, Chris Smith emphasized the difficulty in bringing testing to the city, and believes more collaboration is needed.
“As a faith group, we believe in doing justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God — we believe social justice is a part of the Christian mandate, and, therefore, we see great disparities in the health care system,” she said. “There is no shortage of statistics that discuss the disproportionality of minority persons receiving the medical services they need in general, in particular, as it relates to COVID.
“We really had to network and navigate to make this a reality, but we found great partners,” she added. “We have been very frustrated that testing has not happened significantly in Cuyahoga County, in general, (and) that there was no testing until very recently. Therefore, we felt it was critical that we offer this testing.”