Nearly a week after plans were finalized for a change in Lyon County’s free coronavirus test setup and well into the third day of the new approach, organizers have finally confirmed basic details about the changes.
Representatives of GoGetTested.com have confirmed testing inside the Fairgrounds Anderson Building will continue from 9 am to 5:30 pm Mondays through Saturdays this month. Organizers have not sent a traffic flow map and have not mentioned internal capacity as requested by KVOE News, but they say residents need to be six feet apart and wear a mask when they come in for tests.
Several people have asked other questions about the testing process, including number of vaccines available or administered since the testing began Dec. 18 and how Lyon County metrics compare with other counties with free test sites. GoGetTested.com’s response is it is in an “exploratory” phase with the tests and residents need to follow up with Lyon County Public Health and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment with additional test questions. For their part, Lyon County officials are directing people with questions about the process or results to call GoGetTested at 877-837-8461.
The free tests at the Fairgrounds are part of the state’s unified testing strategy designed to get at least one million Kansas residents tested for coronavirus by the end of last year. Governor Laura Kelly recently said the effort reached that milestone, but the local situation has had periodic issues since it began. On the first day of testing, an “overwhelming” demand led to short supplies by afternoon and the subsequent prioritization of test kits for people who had registered online. Lines developed and stayed long with insufficient staff on site. Staff and test kit numbers improved by Dec. 19. More recently, residents who got tested shortly before Christmas said it took over a week to get test results after initial estimates were 48-96 hours between tests and results. GoGetTested.com has not confirmed the extra time for results and it has not updated the estimated time for results to return.
