HILLSBORO, Mo. — Missouri's health department is stepping up to offer more COVID-19 testing sites around the Show-Me State.
More than 150 people came through the line at the testing site in Hillsboro within the first two hours the site was open Wednesday morning.
Currently, the positivity rate in Jefferson County is at 36%, the county health department shared in an update Wednesday.
When it comes to COVID-19, one thing seemingly holds true for everyone.
“You don’t want to get it, and you don’t want to spread it,” said John Marler. “That’s the big thing. You don’t want to be that person.”
When Marler started showing symptoms, he knew what he had to do.
“I had a sore throat, a cough and a headache yesterday,” he said. “Because of the symptoms, my work said I had to have a clean test before I could come back to work.”
However, tests have been increasingly difficult to come by in Jefferson County.
“Especially lately, it’s been really hard to get a test,” said Marler. “You go to Walgreen, or CVS or wherever you can get a drive-thru test. At this point in time, it’s like five days before you can get an appointment.”
That’s where Nanda Nunnelly and NextGen Diagnostic Services is stepping in.
“We had people lined up starting at 10 a.m.,” Nunnelly said.
Nunnelly’s team is subcontracting with the state to bring up to 600 tests per day into underserved communities.
“That’s our first line of defense to slow down the spread within the community,” said Nunnelly. “If you don’t know you have it, you can’t isolate or quarantine.”
That’s why they’re turning around tests in 24 hours or less.
“You only have a certain window of time to keep people from spreading it to others, so we want to get those results to you as quickly as possible,” said Nunnelly.
While some people are still wary of getting swabbed.
“We do a shallow nasal swab,” said Nunnelly. “It’s not the brain tickler a lot people have heard about.”
“It’s not comfortable, but it’s not the worst thing in the world,” described Marler.
With that in mind, Nunnelly said there’s a simple way to avoid sitting in line.
“If you don’t want to get vaccinated, get tested. If you don’t want to get tested all of the time, then get vaccinated," said Nunnelly.
You can get tested at the Hillsboro Community Civic Center every Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
If you test negative, they'll send you a text. If you're positive, you will receive a phone call informing you of the next steps you need to take.
To see a list of testing locations in the St. Louis area, click here.