Delaware is administering more tests for COVID-19 than it ever has before. The state increased its testing efforts and officials say the demand is there ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Delaware increased the number of pop up sites by about 40 percent over the past ten days, and officials say Delaware is averaging about 7,000 Curative tests per day - with a total of 47,000 tests just last week.
The state counted 13,439 tests on Monday and Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) Director A.J. Schall says a similar amount is expected Tuesday.
Schall says there’s a rush of people looking to get tested before the holiday.
“We ask for people’s patience,” said Schall. “There are lines. We don’t want to turn people away. We will have to draw that line in the sand, because we have to get those tests to the lab. Be patient. Register when you can. We understand many of the sites are full. We will accommodate walk-ups when we can, but we have to make sure to get those tests to the lab.”
Schall adds the holiday rush may increase the time it takes to get back results.
“When we doubled and almost increased by 250 percent what we’ve done over the last few weeks, that time will be increasing,” he said. “We still expect it to be under the 48-hour time frame. That’s why our two big events Monday and Tuesday, giving the labs enough time tonight and Wednesday to get as many of those cleared out.”
Walgreens is moving its testing sites to reservation only in response to the larger testing volume. It’s also partnering with the state to add five new testing sites starting next month.
Delaware’s average percentage of positive tests is now up to 5.7, and the state is seeing an average of more than 440 new COVID-19 cases per day.
