Demand for COVID-19 testing creates backups at Lexington sites
As COVID-19 sets new records in Lexington, demand for tests at multiple sites in the city increased Monday, causing longer waits and delays.
Be patient, officials advised.
The Bluegrass Community and Technical College site had more than 70 vehicles in line for testing by mid-day, according to John Bobel, spokesman for Lexington Emergency Management.
“We’re processing them as quickly as we can,” he said.
The University of Kentucky testing site on College Way had significant waits before leaders later made a significant change to its process. Southland Christian Church on Richmond Road also had lengthy waits.
Tom Martin, a contributor for the Herald-Leader, said he encountered “a line of cars backed all the way out onto Richmond Road.” Later Monday afternoon, the parking lot was also packed with people waiting in vehicles that wound around the huge parking lot.
Backups were found at the city’s Red Mile mobile testing site and Keeneland. Trae Caldwell, a National Guard member directing traffic at Keeneland, said the line was “atrociously awful” earlier on Monday. Workers had wrapped the line — which was up to 60 vehicles long — around the parking lot and managed to get it under control by late afternoon.
The Walgreens testing site off Winchester Road had reached its maximum daily capacity by early Monday afternoon and was only accepting previously made appointments.
The health department said there are multiple potential reasons for a spike in testing. Some may fear or know they were exposed to someone positive. Lexington reported 636 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend and 2,340 new cases in the last seven days.
“Besides increased awareness of the growing numbers, each positive case brings new numbers of close contacts who will get tested,” Hall said.
City spokeswoman Susan Straub said, “Testing has been on the uptick anyway, and now people are trying to get tested before Thanksgiving. There are 21 places around town where people can get tested.”
A test a few days before Thanksgiving doesn’t eliminate the danger of spreading the virus to others at holiday gatherings.
“It’s worth remembering that a test is a snapshot in time, and just because Monday’s test is negative doesn’t mean you can’t become infectious prior to Thanksgiving,” Hall said.
One test provider says it has cut down wait times
Wild Health made changes to drastically reduce wait times at its two test sites, according to Dr. Luke Murray, the director of COVID-19 testing for Wild Health. Wild Health is running the testing sites on College Way and at Eastern State Hospital.
“There are no longer any lines or delays. I think our longest wait time is like five or 10 minutes,” said Dr. Luke Murray, the director of COVID-19 testing for Wild Health.
Wild Health owns a lab in Lexington, so it’s able to adjust to changes in demand by adding staffers at the test sites or at the lab, Murray said. The cut-down in wait time from Monday to Tuesday was attributable to a key change in workflow: label printing.
“We just kind of took a look at the system of what took the longest,” said Brogan Wilcox, who was working at the College Way test site Tuesday.
Labels for the sample tubes have to be printed off for each person getting tested. The workers agreed to designate two people to spend all their time printing labels. Other workers walked the line of cars and used radios to let the printers know which patient was in line. Labels were ready to go before patients drove up to the testing spot.
After making the change, the College Way site was running as many as 300 tests in one hour, Murray said. The Eastern State Hospital site was limited to about 100 tests per hour because the space is more limited, Wilcox said.
Appointments are needed to get tested. Wild Health has been getting about 82 percent of its test results back to the patient within a day, Murray said.
Lexington’s testing sites and hours of operation
- 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Red Mile, 1200 Red Mile Road. Appointments aren’t necessary.
- 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. UK sites at 1350 Bull Lea Road and 1505 College Way. Appointments at lexington.wildhealth.com.
- 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. BCTC, 500 Newtown Pike. Appointments aren’t necessary.
- 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Southland Christian 2349 Richmond Road. No appointments necessary.
- 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Keeneland, through Gate 1. Reservation required at https://www.doineedacovid19test.com/.
- 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Walgreens 2296 Executive Drive. Appointments required at walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing.
- Kroger Little Clinics, 4101 Tates Creek Road, 1600 Leestown Road, 1650 Bryan Station Road, 3175 Beaumont Centre Circle and 3101 Richmond Road, by appointment at thelittleclinic.com/.
- 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. CVS, 118 New Circle Road and 2000 Harrodsburg Road. Schedule a test at cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing
- 9 a.m. - 8:45 p.m. Urgent Care Centers at 1701 Nicholasville Road, 3101 Richmond Road and 4097 Nichols Park Drive.
- 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Medix DX Labs at 3191 Beaumont Centre Circle, 161 Lexington Green, 3801 Mall Road and 120 Malabu Drive. Register at https://medixdx.com/
- 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Redding Drug, 431 Redding Road. Register online at https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21178731
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 3:35 PM.