A mobile COVID-19 testing site was in Snyder today, as part of a coordinated effort by various state agencies.
Scurry County Judge Dan Hicks confirmed the visit on Sunday afternoon, after the weekend edition of The Snyder News had already been printed.
The mobile test site will be set up at Western Texas College until 6 p.m. today.
According to information in Saturday’s edition of the Lamesa Press-Reporter, Dawson County will host a similar test site on Thursday outside Medical Arts Hospital.
Individuals must have exhibited one of 10 symptoms to be tested. Those include fever and/or chills; cough (dry or productive); fatigue; body aches, muscle or joint pain; shortness of breath; sore throat; headaches; nausea, vomiting or diarrhea; nasal congestion; or loss of taste or smell.
It is unclear how late today individuals may register by calling (512) 883-2400 or online at www.txcovidtest.org. In Dawson County, individuals will be allowed to register on-site, according to the article in the Press-Reporter.
According to information in the Press-Reporter, individuals will be given a 4-digit pin that they will provide at the test site. Those tests will be sent to Lubbock and then flown to Dallas, and results should be sent by text or email within 48 hours. Individuals will remain in their vehicle while the test is administered, which is expected to take about 10 minutes.
The Press-Reporter stated that 700 tests were administered at a similar mobile test site in Dumas, where false rumors began to spread quickly. Dawson County officials said that with that many tests having been administered, the number of positive test results is expected to “jump sharply.”
The mobile test site is not replacing testing at Cogdell Memorial Hospital, which will continue to administer COVID-19 tests.
“Cogdell Memorial Hospital has followed CDC guidelines since the onset of the pandemic,” Cogdell Memorial Hospital chief executive officer Ella Rae Helms said. “The incidence of COVID seems to be low in this general area at this time. For example, as of April 27 one positive case has been identified in Nolan County, one case in Mitchell County, no confirmed cases in Fisher County and two confirmed cases in Scurry County.”
Cogdell Memorial Hospital has been administering three types of tests and sending test kits to Lubbock for processing.
“We have used a saliva and sputum collection method as well as the nasopharyngeal swab collection technique to test for COVID-19,” Cogdell Memorial Hospital lab manager Bill Dickinson said. “Specimens are sent to either the MicroGen DX lab in Lubbock or the Lubbock bioterrorism lab in Lubbock. Both labs utilize the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction process, which is the gold standard testing methodology. Our test turnaround is currently about 24 hours, which provides diagnostic support to our physicians.”