JoCo begins drive-thru coronavirus tests: ‘No time more important than next week’
At 9 a.m. on Friday, Lee Jarrell of Leawood joined a line of more than 100 cars wrapped around the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe.
As she waited, Jarrell meditated on the fact that she will finally know — after days of worrying about her cough and the possibility of infecting her family — whether she has coronavirus.
Jarrell was among the first randomly selected group of Johnson County residents invited to go to the drive-thru testing site on its opening day.
The county aims to test at least 2,000 residents — some with symptoms of coronavirus and some without — to collect data, analyze the results and better understand how the virus is spreading throughout the community.
The launch of the program comes as health officials worry that residents will grow lax in following stay at home orders over the Easter holiday weekend.
“There is no time more important than next week,” said Sanmi Areola, county public health director. “We think what we’ve done has worked. The numbers of cases are stable. But we can lose all of the gains we’ve made if we revert back this week because of religious holidays. There could be serious consequences.”
Other than her cough, Jarrell said doesn’t have symptoms. But she was grateful to be tested, especially knowing how limited coronavirus testing has been throughout the metro area, and the nation.
“I was absolutely willing to participate knowing that people can be asymptomatic and still have it,” she said. “We have a diabetic son, and we’ve been very careful to not go anywhere that isn’t absolutely necessary to avoid bringing anything home to him or our other children.”
After waiting in line for a half-hour, she rolled down her window and pulled up to a tent where health department staff swabbed her nose.
The sample will be sent off to a lab, with results expected in five to seven days. If the sample tests positive, the county will notify Jarrell to self-isolate. Anyone she has been in contact with will be instructed to do the same, Areola said.
“Hopefully by doing this, we can succeed in reducing the spread of the virus. In turn, that would reduce the risk of really serious consequences in our most vulnerable population,” Areola said.
Random testing
With the Kansas health department limiting testing to only hospitalized residents due to statewide supply shortages, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners allocated $400,000 to purchase more collection kits and launch the random testing program.
“We’re really attacking this from multiple angles,” Areola said. “If this works out the way we think it will, we will have a lot more data to understand what is going on.”
Johnson County officials invited 550 residents to be tested for coronavirus at the drive-thru site on Friday.
“We selected a group that is representative of our demographic makeup, including gender, race, age and where they live throughout the county,” Areola said. “And we know there are people who are spreading the virus without symptoms. So we need to sample that population also to know about the activity of the virus in that community.”
The county is working with an Olathe-based marketing firm, ETC Institute, to develop a randomized sampling pool, then contact residents and instruct them to go get tested. In addition, the county is testing some people who responded to an online survey and reported symptoms consistent with coronavirus, including a fever and dry cough.
As of Thursday, Areola said, about 60,000 people had responded to the survey. Out of the group, about 2,400 reported symptoms. The county will continue surveying people in the coming month, and plans to release early results next week.
Officials will test three more groups of 500 residents in the coming weeks, he said.
Areola said his method for testing is similar to some other countries, such as Iceland, where wider community test results have helped guide mitigation strategies.
The test results will be sent to the Kansas health department — which processes the results at no cost to the county — or to commercial labs, he said. Quest Diagnostics, Olathe Health System and University of Kansas Health System have been providing testing materials to the county.
Areola said the data collected, along with other testing results throughout the county, will help officials determine if mitigation strategies are working to contain the outbreak.
He estimates the outbreak will peak in Johnson County within the next couple of weeks. But he said that depends on whether residents continue abiding by the stay at home order and social distancing requirements.
Johnson County officials reported 16 new confirmed cases as of Friday morning, bringing the total to 263, with 12 deaths. Since Thursday, 89 more negative tests were returned, for a total of 2,069 negative tests.
As Kansas lawmakers battle over whether church gatherings should be limited on Easter Sunday, Areola pleaded for Johnson County residents to stay home. The Kansas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Saturday after Gov. Laura Kelly filed a lawsuit to stop Republican legislative leaders from revoking an executive order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people.
Johnson County’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people remains in effect, Areola said.
“I understand and appreciate the impact. I also want to be able to celebrate Easter. But if we do well this time, then we will not have to do this next year,” he said.
Areola warned that the county’s mitigation efforts — including the $400,000 random community testing program — could be harmed if residents refuse to help contain the spread of the virus.
Nursing homes report most deaths
In addition to the random testing program, Johnson County is expanding the number of tests provided to health care workers, first responders and grocery store employees — as well as the staff and clients at nursing homes.
The majority of deaths due to coronavirus in Johnson County have been reported at three long-term care facilities. County spokeswoman Barbara Mitchell said at least seven deaths and 33 cases have been reported at Lakeview Village, Homestead of Olathe Memory Care and Forest Creek Memory Care.
In response to the growing number of deaths, Areola said the county is dedicating more resources to nursing homes and memory care centers. This week, 40 facilities were sent shipments of coronavirus testing supplies. Staff at the facilities will conduct the tests, then send the samples to the state health department for processing.
“Some of these facilities are a lot tougher to enforce social distancing,” he said. “We’re doing our best to ensure they have enough resources and enough staff to protect our most vulnerable population. Once we have positive cases, we will deploy more kits until we have a better feel for what’s going on and can help minimize the spread.”
