GREENSBORO, N.C. — The line of cars at Cone Health's Green Valley campus and the Guilford County Health Department stretched into the street again on Monday. A rush of people waited in line to get tested for COVID-19 ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in order to avoid spreading the virus to family and friends.
"We are seeing an increase of demand like we have never seen," David Thompson of Cone Health said.
"Probably a big driver of that right now is just the holidays coming up. A lot of people are wanting to be tested," Thompson said.
He manages Cone Health's testing sites and said the Green Valley campus is routinely seeing 800 people a day for tests but the staff is unable to attend to everyone who needs it.
"Now we are averaging around 800 people a day but the demand is actually higher than that. Sometimes we are having to close the line down because the demand is so high and we are backed up all the way to Battleground Avenue," he said.
There are nationwide concerns about what challenges family gatherings over the holiday could present for public health. Cases continue to increase in the Triad, with Guilford and Alamance Counties now in the critical "red zone."
Health officials warned people to avoid having family gatherings. However, if they must, they are being asked to limit the gatherings to only folks living within the same household.
Health officials also advise having a negative test within 72 to 120 hours of the impending visit, during which time one must quarantine while awaiting results.
Cone Health tested more than 5,000 people last week. Thompson said they averaged 2,250 tests a week two months ago.
Thompson said Cone Health has plenty of tests but traffic issues make it hard to test everyone. When the wait gets over two hours, testing staff have to turn people away.
"The space, the staff and the demand of people coming through at that, between the hours of 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., it is just almost impossible to keep that much people going through at one time," Thompson said.
Cone Health's locations do not require an appointment for testing but some others do. The Guilford County Health Department offers testing at its Wendover Avenue location by appointment.
The wait is not just for the test, but also for the result. Thompson said Cone Health tests can take up to five days to get results right now.
"With the turn around time to get the result for testing, there will be a good chance you would not get that before Thanksgiving. So our recommendation is you should have Thanksgiving with people in your family, in your immediate household, and have a zoom call with the rest of your family that's outside of your household," Thomspon said.
According to the NCDHHS website, the average turnaround time from the swab to the final result is two and a half days. Some recently confirmed cases from last week took three and a half days to get results.
Triad based labs, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp said their turnaround times can now take one to two days on average.
"Be prepared that you may need to wait, be prepared that the line may shut down because of volume," Thompson said.
Cone Health is planning on moving to test indoors and making it by appointment only to cut down on the wait times at Green Valley. Officials hope to have this plan in place by mid-December.
Meanwhile, Cone Health will be closed to coronavirus testing on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
Greensboro Site Testing, Guilford County Division of Public Health, 1100 East Wendover Avenue
For morning appointments in Greensboro, Monday – Wednesday between 9 a.m. and noon, please call 336-641-7527.
For afternoon appointments in Greensboro, Monday – Wednesday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., please register online at StarMed.
This testing site will be closed in observance of Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26 StarMed will provide testing on Friday, Nov. 27 from noon – 6 p.m. For an appointment, please register online at StarMed.
High Point Site Testing, Guilford County Division of Public Health, 501 East Green Drive
For appointments in High Point, Monday – Wednesday between 1 p.m. – 6 p.m., please register online at www.DoINeedaCOVID19Test.com.
This testing site will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27 in observance of Thanksgiving.
Testing will be provided by eTrueNorth on Saturday, Nov. 28 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. For an appointment, please register online at www.DoINeedaCOVID19Test.com .
All those arriving for COVID-19 testing are asked to please wear a face covering. Regular testing times will resume on Monday, Nov. 30
Please visit Healthy Guilford for more information.
List of other Testing Sites
- For CVS testing sites in North Carolina, click here.
- For pop-up testing sites in North Carolina, click here.
- For testing sites with regular hours in North Carolina, click here.
- For Old North State MS, click here.
- For Triad Adult & Pediatric Medicine, click here.
- For Guilford County testing in Greensboro and High Point, click here.
- For Optum testing sites in Alamance County, click here.