YORK COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – the state department of education says starting Monday all students will be required to wear masks on school buses. Rising numbers is the reason why and that’s also why there are long lines at testing facilities.
According to DHEC 47% of eligible South Carolina residents are double vaccinated, health officials say that’s below what is needed to reach herd immunity.
As the Delta Variant continues to rise in the palmetto state and in our area, so do the number of people coming out to get COVID-19 test. Winthrop Coliseums parking lot full of people looking for results.
This sites leaders say they’ve performed more than 80,000 tests since September 2020, seeing as many as 1,500 people a day. Two weeks ago that number was as low as 400 tests per day and now this Thursday, more than 1,200.
Genetworx’s Kimberly Locklear says, “It’s really it’s just getting tested, family members may be getting sick, we don’t want to expose others, trying to keep the positive rate down, keep our family safe.”
Locklear saying this free sites positive test rate is at more than 10%. Those stopping by can expect a quick drive-thru process, getting results within 48 hours. Running out of tests at one point last year, she says now they are prepared and stocked up.
“That happen actually early on when we first began here last year in September. We have taking every precaution to ensure that does not happen this year. He have shut down for inclement weather, for the safety of our patients as well as our staff — but the monitor our staffing in our supplies daily,” says Locklear.
Those looking for even faster results might consider stopping by Carolina Pharmacy on Cherry Road in Rock Hill — where you can get results in as quickly as 10 minutes. These test do cost and are often not paid for upfront by insurance providers. Pharmacists saying they’ve also seen a recent uptick in people looking for COVID tests.
Olivia Hill, with Carolina Pharmacy says, “There’s definitely been a huge increase in testing over the past two weeks. We’ve seen a huge influx for various reasons for people traveling, definitely starting back to school, as well as having recent exposures. With the spike in the Delta variant people have been out and about and obviously been exposed. So we’ve had a numerous amount of people coming to get tested for that reason as well.”
Additionally, Carolina Pharmacy is also offering COVID vaccines.
“Well currently we only have the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines. And, we’ve had a lot of questions about the third dose. So, right now we are not offering the third dose for anyone and everyone — only for those who are immunocompromised,” says Hill.
In the video above, CN2’s Rachel Richardson is speaking with testing site leaders about the uptick in just the last two weeks.
