‘I wanted to know.’ Drive-thru coronavirus tests arrive in rural Kentucky.
Moni Deyo has chronic lung disease and so is at higher risk of complications from the novel coronavirus, but there was another reason she wanted to know if she’d been exposed — her 19-month old granddaughter, Paidyn.
So on Tuesday, Deyo, 59, traveled more than an hour from her home in Whitley County to Somerset to one of the four drive-through testing sites Kroger is sponsoring this week across Kentucky.
“One way or the other, I wanted to know so my granddaughter is safe to be around me,” Deyo said after taking the test. “I just wanted to make sure.”
Health workers from Kroger started doing the tests at sites in Somerset, Pikeville, Paducah and Madisonville on Tuesday and will continue Wednesday and Thursday.
The goal is to test a total of 1,000 people at each site over five weeks, for a total of 20,000, as state and local health officials continue trying to get a handle on how widespread the virus is in Kentucky.
The ability to increase testing is one of the benchmarks Gov. Andy Beshear has set to judge how quickly to relax aggressive measures taken to tamp down the spread of COVID-19 cases.
As of Monday, only 32,830 people in Kentucky had been tested. That is far less than 1 percent of the state’s population.
There was a line of 10 cars at the Somerset test site when it opened at 8:30 a.m., but after that initial spurt of activity there was seldom more than two or three cars in the parking lot at a time through noon.
Participation at the Pikeville site also was sparse much of Tuesday morning.
Andrea Keller, a nurse practitioner and regional clinic director for Kroger Health, said 150 people were registered to be tested in Pikeville Tuesday. By 4:30, about the same number had been tested at that site. Beshear had hoped to test about 330 people a day at each site.
People can register at Krogerhealth.com/covidtesting or by calling 888-852-2567. There is no cost.
A Kroger spokeswoman did not respond to a request for information, including how many tests had been conducted by midday Tuesday.
A hand-out provided by police at the Somerset site said testing is limited to health care workers, first responders, people 65 and older, people with chronic health conditions and anyone else showing COVID-19 symptoms.
The symptoms include a dry cough and a fever.
Pulaski County Judge-Executive Steve Kelley visited the testing site in Somerset Tuesday and said he was glad to see the greater testing effort.
More tests likely will mean an increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, but it will also provide much-needed information to help in efforts to re-open businesses, said Kelley, a Republican.
It will also help put people at ease about the prevalence of the virus, he said.
“We’ve needed this for awhile,” Kelley said. “It’s definitely going to get us more results, more data, that we’ve been lacking.”
Most people have been conscientious about the need to stay home if possible, avoid crowds and keep six feet away from people in stores, Kelley said, but with nicer weather, “people are getting restless.”
Kentucky State Police officers, Kentucky Army National Guard troops and state Transportation Cabinet workers set up the drive-through system in Somerset in the parking lot of the Center for Rural Development, laying out traffic cones to direct drivers to an initial check-in tent and then through lanes to two screening tents and two testing tents.
There was a significant security presence at the testing area Tuesday, with Somerset police, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, state police and the National Guard on hand to direct traffic and make sure there were no problems.
John Sparks, a Johnson County resident, said his test at the Pikeville clinic was quicker than he expected.
Sparks works weekends at a clinic in Shelbiana, and has handled multiple COVID-19 testing kits as part of his job.
He hasn’t experienced any symptoms, but was able to receive a test at the Pikeville clinic because of his potential exposure in the workplace.
Sparks’ wife, Sheila Sparks, has respiratory problems and uses oxygen. She made the drive with him on Tuesday.
Sparks said he was disappointed that more people weren’t utilizing the Pikeville clinic. At the time Sparks went through, few if any other cars were in line.
“I think everybody in the region should take advantage of this, especially health care workers,” he said.
People tested Tuesday said they were told to expect results in 48 to 72 hours.
Deyo said she was told if the test was positive the local health department would contact her. If it wasn’t she would get information online.
McKay Prater, who works at an Eastern Kentucky hospital and took a test at the Pikeville drive-through site Tuesday, said he’s been quarantined at his mother’s house for four weeks to avoid possibly sharing the virus with his two young children.
If the test is negative, he hopes to stay with his children for the first time in nearly a month.
Some people who took the test Tuesday said it was uncomfortable.
Health workers handed swabs into vehicles and had participants swab each nostril before handing the swab back to the workers.
Deyo said the instruction was to stick the swab deep into one nostril and twist it around, then leave if for 15 seconds before doing the other side. It caused her to sneeze several times.
“It’s very uncomfortable to have it up in there,” she said.
Brandon Lykins, a 24-year-old construction worker, agreed that the test was a bit uncomfortable, but said he was glad to get it.
He started feeling weak and tired last Thursday and experienced shortness of breath.
His boss asked him to stay home and get tested before coming back to work, and Lykins also was worried about exposing his wife and 17-month-old son, so he drove from Richmond to Somerset to get the test.
“I don’t want to put nobody at risk,” he said.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 3:29 PM.
