NEW ORLEANS — Two drive-up Coronavirus testing sites that were piloted in New Orleans will soon be on the move to St. James and St. Charles parishes.
At one point, the federal COVID-19 testing sites in Orleans Parish were running out of tests before noon. But slowly, turnout became a trickle. Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the sites have been only seeing about 50 patients a day.
"We want to pivot our outreach to be more intentional about, again, meeting people where they are, looking at more closely in terms of hot spots," said Mayor Cantrell on Thursday.
One month into the pandemic, and more than 92,000 tests later, elected leaders believe it's time to shift some attention outside Louisiana's Coronavirus epicenter.
"To take maximum advantage of them, and working with the office of public health and local elected leaders, and knowing the hot spot that's developing between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the river parishes, we're going to move these testing sites," Gov.John Bel Edwards announced Friday.
One testing site will move to Gramercy Elementary School in St. James Parish, which has reported fewer than 200 cases.
The other will go to Hanhville high school in St. Charles Parish, where there are fewer than 400 confirmed cases.
Testing in both parishes has been hard to come by. St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell said he appealed directly to the governor to get the testing site moved to Hahnville High School, and believes it will increase access to residents with lower incomes.
"It's right off of a major highway, so I think we'll see folks from LaFourche Parish come in, and maybe even Terrebonne as well," said Jewell.
He said, although some residents were nervous increased testing will cause numbers of positive cases to jump, he's glad more testing access is on its way.
"I think ultimately, it's going to be a good thing," said Jewell. "People are going to go get tested, and that'll help us understand not only the virus but how it spreads and help us prevent the spread of the virus."
Positive cases tally up under the patient's home parish, and not where the test was conducted, so increasing access could increase accuracy in data statewide.
It could even uncover clusters of cases where they were previously unknown.
The testing sites at Hahnville High School and Gramercy Elementary School are scheduled to open Wednesday, April 15th.
The Teche Action Clinic will also be testing two days a week in Edgard.
Leaders are also working on a mobile testing unit that will focus on the west bank of the river parishes. Governor Edwards said more information on that will be coming soon.
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