Know before you go: How Tarrant County residents can avoid long lines for COVID testing
The demand for COVID-19 testing has seen an increase in Tarrant County since the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Some testing site locations have seen long wait times, both to receive a test and to get results back.
Some residents shared their experiences with long lines at Tarrant County College sites on social media, stating they were turned away despite having an appointment or that they hadn’t received their results days later.
The Tarrant County College testing sites are run by diagnostics lab Gene-IQ and are not affiliated with county-run testing sites. In a statement released Wednesday, representatives with Gene-IQ said typically their average wait time for PCR test results has been 24-36 hours, but there have been delays due to the drastic increase in demand. The company is seeking to increase staff, expand operating hours and open additional test sites to meet demand, according to the statement.
“Due to the recent unforeseen circumstances, we are experiencing longer than normal processing times,” Gene-IQ representatives said. “We are working to report results as quickly as possible and expect to return to a 48-hour turnaround time in the coming weeks.”
A Tarrant County College official said in a email to the Star-Telegram that the college reached out to Gene-IQ to provide testing on its campuses for the benefit of students and employees and to serve the public.
Prior to the holidays, about 100 tests were conducted daily on all TCC campuses combined, according to Susan Alanis, the Tarrant County College District’s chief operating officer. The demand for tests increased drastically to nearly 1,000 on Dec. 23 and peaked at nearly 2,400 tests on Dec. 28.
“We met with the vendor immediately to address operational issues, including traffic and wait times,” Alanis wrote. “We implemented traffic controls and improved signage; they began requiring appointments with slots limited to align with their capacity. We also ceased testing at the SE and NW campuses due to staff shortages.
“These changes have been effective but they have a lingering backlog in test results due to lab capacity,” she said. “They have told us that they increased their staffing this week and flew in technicians from other states to assist with the expectation that they will be able to normalize the test turnaround time.”
Why are there long wait times for COVID-19 tests?
Fort Worth doctor Todd Young is one of the founders of North Texas Rapid PCR, which has been conducting free COVID-19 tests for about a year. North Texas Rapid PCR has one drive-up site in the hospital district at 1001 12th Ave. in Fort Worth.
Young said following the holidays until now his company has seen the highest demand since it started conducting tests, along with the most positive results.
In addition to a surge in cases of the omicron variant, one reason for the sudden rise in testing could be because more establishments are beginning to require proof of a recent negative COVID test, such as workplaces and concert venues, Young said. So far, North Texas Rapid PCR has seen a wait time of around 5-15 minutes, but for locations with long wait times Young said it could come down to lack of staffing.
How do I avoid a long wait to get tested?
While not all testing sites in Tarrant County require an appointment, some highly encourage making one.
Vinny Taneja, Tarrant County Public Health director, said a lot of sites base their availability on the amount of open appointment slots they have to test.
North Texas Rapid PCR operates by appointment only and delivers same-day results. Young said what can slow down the waiting process pre-test is if someone forgets to upload their ID and proof of insurance, or a Social Security number if they don’t have insurance, into the registration portal.
There are close to 100 testing sites in the county, so when driving up to one with a long line, Taneja said, there are options to go to another location instead. Locations can be found on the county’s website under “COVID-19 Testing in Tarrant County.” The listed includes both sites run by the county and those run by private vendors.
When booking an appointment, the county website shows the number of currently available slots at each testing site. In some cases, a negative number of available appointments is shown when a location is overbooked.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has a list of community-based COVID-19 testing locations by state, which lists local independent pharmacies as well as health centers. To find this list, visit hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites.
“Use pharmacy chains, you know, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, they all have testing options,” Taneja said. “Let’s use all those options that are there.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 4:51 PM.
