COVID-19 testing site in Pasco sees record number of people get tested

Neil Fischer,
Posted:
Updated:
by Neil Fischer

PASCO, Wash. — The COVID-19 testing site at CBC in Pasco is seeing record numbers of people get tested for the coronavirus.

On Tuesday, 1,349 people were tested at the site on Argent Road.

Ben Shearer with the Pasco Fire Department told KAPP-KVEW that the site had just broken the record on Monday, with 1,338 people showing up to get tested.

RELATED: CBC West’s COVID-19 testing site lacks staff, resources to meet demand 

Before this week, the previous record was on September 21, 2021, when 1,320 people were tested for COVID-19, according to Shearer.

“When new variants pop up, we see a concern in the community,” says Shearer.

Shearer says that people are lining up outside the CBC testing site an hour before it opens. In some cases, it takes up to an hour to reach the tent to provide your sample to be tested.

The results are also taking longer to receive, because the labs are working with more samples.

“Because of the high numbers of positives right now, they’re having to do individual testing at the labs which is what’s taking so much longer,” says Shearer. “A lot of that’s out of our control, it’s not because of something we’re doing here.”

Approximately 1,000 people have gotten tested at the site each day this week, according to Shearer.

The COVID-19 testing site at CBC in Pasco is scheduled to close Wednesday and Thursday to provide staff time off. It will reopen Friday and stay open until Tuesday.

RELATED: New community COVID-19 testing site opens in Richland

For more locations and to schedule an appointment, you can visit the Benton-Franklin Health District’s website.

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