WINFIELD, Mo. — Testing at Winfield's County Market is usually a smooth ride.
Every Wednesday, there's a testing site there in Lincoln County. On Fridays, there's a drive-up site in Warren County.
"We typically have no issues whatsoever. It’s in the exact same spot," Winfield said Mayor Dawn Garver.
However this week, there are some bumps in the road. Garver told 5 On Your Side hundreds came out to get a test.
"We had from 400 to 500 cars lining up," she said.
It's during a time that's sandwiched between two major holidays.
"They were going all the way down the road, down to Highway 79. People were cutting in line, speeding through and almost hit a couple of pedestrians. I heard numerous people that drove over an hour to Winfield," Garver said.
Brett Sierfert, Administrator for Lincoln County Health Department, said they learned much of the traffic was from out of the county.
Lincoln County resident Becky Johnson got in line after she was exposed Christmas Day.
"I was really struggling to find an open appointment," Johnson admits.
Johnson even got there 30 minutes before it opened up and was behind 30 cars. She was just five cars away when the site, run by Department of Health and Senior Services and Nextegen Diagnostics, was shut down.
Johnson told 5 On Your Side, "This is the only mass testing site in Lincoln County."
Garver called it off for safety and traffic issues, even sharing concerns to constituents on Facebook.
She said some officers were even spit on or coughed on when they tried to manage it.
"We had a lot of hostility," Garver added.
The closure is one more hurdle Johnson says they have to face. Warren County's site is closed New Year's Eve, which means the next closest spot, if excluding at-home testing, would be a 25-minute drive.
"The rural populations out here don't really have any options," Johnson noted.
This comes at a time when getting tested is at an all-time high. In Missouri, there were nearly 128,158 new PCR tests taken this week, up from nearly 126,446 last week.
"Demand just simply outstripped what they could accommodate," Siefert said.
Garver believes this is a one-time incident due to the holidays. But she's ready to navigate the next situation if it arises.
"I have contacted Lincoln County Emergency Management, Nextegen, and myself. We will have a meeting and we will try to find a better solution if we do run into those situations again," she said.
Siefert said the plan is to have the testing site up and running at the County Market next Wednesday. They are assisting with a possible location change if need be.
"It seems to be region-wide, demand is just that high," Siefert added.
He also reminds people that Missouri offers a free at-home test.
This comes a day before the St. Louis area set a one-day record for COVID admissions.
New hospital admissions jumped to 169 Thursday, which is a new pandemic record.
For a list of COVID-19 testing in the area, click here.