Two new mass COVID-19 testing sites open in Utah, but state still urging most to skip the swab

Individuals obtain COVID-19 checks on the College of Utah in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. The Utah Division of Well being has opened two extra neighborhood testing websites, one on the U. and one other at Utah Valley College in Orem.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information

Von Satter swabs his nostril for a COVID-19 check on the College of Utah in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. The Utah Division of Well being has opened two extra neighborhood testing websites, one on the U. and one other at Utah Valley College in Orem.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information

Two new free mass testing websites for COVID-19 opened in Utah Monday, on the College of Utah and Utah Valley College, however the state’s coverage of urging most Utahns with signs to skip testing and simply keep dwelling for not less than 5 days will keep the identical.

The websites, operated by means of a federal program not too long ago expanded as a part of the Biden administration’s efforts to sluggish the unfold of the extremely transmissible omicron variant of the virus, are every anticipated to check as much as 1,200 individuals a day.

To date, loads of appointments can be found, mentioned Tom Wiser, a spokesman for eTrueNorth, the federal contractor over some 850 COVID-19 testing areas nationwide, together with the 2 new mass testing websites and a few pharmacies in Utah.

The state has been struggling to maintain up with the demand for testing through the omicron surge, with Utahns ready in line for hours at overwhelmed drive-up websites that had resorted to providing at-home check kits to attempt to ease the crowds till these ran out in mid-January.

That’s when Gov. Spencer Cox and different state leaders introduced Utahns ought to not get examined for COVID-19 after they present indicators of the virus until they're aged, medically weak or spending time round others who're in these classes.

As an alternative, the state desires Utahns affected by the cold- and flu-like signs related to the virus to imagine they’ve received it and isolate at dwelling for 5 days. In the event that they really feel higher and not have a fever at that time, they will enterprise out in a masks for an additional 5 days.

Wiser wasn’t positive what impression the recommendation to not get examined would have on the brand new websites within the state.

“Our mission is to develop COVID testing for all Individuals. Anybody who needs to get a check, we hope that these two websites can present them alternative to get examined. And as of immediately, there’s ample appointments,” he mentioned. Utahns can register and safe a spot on the websites on-line, at ineedacovid19test.com.

The no-charge PCR checks are self-administered utilizing a nasal swab, however well being care professionals are readily available to look at, in line with the contractor. Outcomes could be anticipated inside 48 to 72 hours, and everybody, even kids, should arrange a person account with a novel username and password that can be used to retrieve the outcomes.

Von Satter swabs his nostril for a COVID-19 check on the College of Utah in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. The Utah Division of Well being has opened two extra neighborhood testing websites, one on the U. and one other at Utah Valley College in Orem.

Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information

Utah hit a report of 55,600 checks carried out for the virus the day earlier than the instruction to not check was given, in what was described as a “pivot” within the state’s pandemic response. That quantity has been dropping since, to lower than 21,000 final Friday. The outcomes from dwelling check kits usually are not reported to the state.

Case counts have been headed down in Utah, too. Monday, the Utah Division of Well being reported a complete of 10,272 new circumstances in Utah since Friday — 4,801 on Friday, 3,208 on Saturday and a couple of,324 on Sunday. The report of greater than 13,500 circumstances in a single day, almost thrice final winter’s earlier excessive, was set on Jan. 14.

The college campuses in Salt Lake Metropolis and Orem had been chosen for the brand new testing websites “based mostly on inhabitants dimension, case rely information, % positivity, waste water, the necessity for a better quantity testing location, and keen companions to host the location,” state well being division spokeswoman Charla Haley mentioned.

Even with extra capability accessible, she mentioned the state’s recommendation about testing hasn’t modified.

“It’s much more manageable now,” Haley mentioned of testing. However the decline in testing means every day case counts are possible not an correct measure of how prevalent COVID-19 is in Utah, so public well being officers are shifting to different sources of knowledge.

Haley mentioned the state is relying extra on the testing being achieved on wastewater all through the state to observe the unfold of the virus. Nonetheless, she mentioned it’s not clear whether or not the omicron surge in Utah has peaked, because it has in another components of the nation.

“I want I may say sure,” Haley mentioned. “We’re simply sort of driving the wave to see what occurs. There’s not likely any technique to predict precisely what’s taking place. We’ve seen declines earlier than that then ended up in surges so it’s sort of tough to even predict the place we’re going proper now. Holding our fingers crossed.”

Nathan LaCross, wastewater surveillance program supervisor for the state well being division, mentioned case counts are “more likely to be a reasonably extreme underestimate of the true variety of circumstances,” as a result of “testing sources have simply been stretched so skinny that individuals have needed to be requested to not present up, which is absolutely unlucky.”

However LaCross mentioned he’s “beginning to see some good lower in tendencies” from the wastewater samples collected biweekly which can be despatched to the state lab to be screened for the virus, though ranges of the virus detected are nonetheless excessive.

“The info has actually shifted quite a bit within the final week and a half,” LaCross mentioned, with samples suggesting the virus is both remaining at secure ranges or reducing, particularly alongside the Wasatch Entrance. That comes after weeks the place the samples confirmed no indicators of the virus nearing a peak.

Nonetheless, LaCross cautioned that Utahns nonetheless want to guard themselves and others towards the virus.

“Hopefully, individuals don’t get the improper impression. Similar to earlier waves, you begin a downward flip that doesn’t imply, hey, all the pieces is nice, now we will simply ignore all precautions and security measures we’ve been taking,” he mentioned. “(We’ve) received to maintain doing it to maintain it going on this constructive course.”

Han Kim, a professor of public well being at Westminster Faculty in Salt Lake Metropolis, mentioned Utahns are getting combined messages in terms of testing. That features the free dwelling check kits and N95 face masks being distributed by the Biden administration weeks after omicron started sweeping throughout the US.

“I’m at all times a fan of extra testing capability. I’m glad the Biden administration is doing this,” Kim mentioned, including nobody was prepared for the surge. “So I don’t essentially blame the federal authorities. I feel they’re doing the very best they will nevertheless it’s simply the state of affairs. It’s such a fast paced illness, it looks like all the pieces we do is a step too late.”