Snohomish County says save testing for those with symptoms, exposures
Jan 5, 2022, 5:48 PM | Updated: Jan 6, 2022, 7:51 am
A drive-thru COVID testing site. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
With Snohomish County cases doubling each week for the past two weeks — and exceeding previous case records — the county’s testing capability has become overwhelmed.
To reduce the strain, county health officials are asking people not to get a test unless they have symptoms or a recent exposure to an infected person.
“If you don’t need a test for medical purposes, please defer getting tested, so people who need it because they’re sick or have been exposed can get one done,” implored Snohomish County Health Officer Dr. Chris Spitters.
Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers tests positive for COVID-19
He said the county does not have enough tests or staffing to accommodate the current demand brought on by the omicron variant. Spitters’ guess is that as much as 5% of the county’s population caught COVID in the past two weeks.
Not helping the situation is the fact that recent snowfall forced the county’s testing centers to close last week, which Spitters said lost the county about 2,500 testing opportunities.
“[The testing shortfall] is a formidable challenge and it may not be fully resolved until we get to the other side of this wave,” he said. “But in the meantime, we are talking to the state about the possibilities of getting state support for additional testing in the county.”
The rise in cases also means that local health departments won’t have the bandwidth to contact everyone who tests positive for COVID-19. Spitters said people will need to take responsibility for themselves by contacting people they have been around and quarantining at home if they test positive.
“As this rolls along, … the numbers way outstrip the capacity. So, one, we’ll have less information than we did before about these things, and it’s really going to be on people to know or at least look up and apply the isolation and quarantine measures to themselves,” Spitters said. “Because new cases and contacts are unlikely to hear from Public Health during this wave — there’s just insufficient capacity.”
