Free COVID tests drawing residents

Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2020

One hundred people were tested for COVID-19 at a drive-thru site set up at the Lake Charles Civic Center Tuesday. It marked the first time since the system was rolled out in late March that tests were given to those who didn’t show symptoms of the virus.

Dick Gremillion, Calcasieu Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness director, said Tuesday’s numbers were higher than the peak of 86 people tested on March 26, the first day of operations at the Burton Complex drive-thru site. The Burton site was initially set up for those who showed symptoms of coronavirus and were considered high risk.

“A lot of people are curious,” Gremillion said of being tested. “They may be exhibiting minor symptoms and just want to know. I definitely think there’s (public) interest still in this testing.”

Free drive-thru testing sites will be set up throughout the parish over the next several days and will be open to residents in the five-parish area of Southwest Louisiana who are 16 and older and have a valid ID.

There are goals when it comes to testing residents who aren’t showing symptoms of COVID-19, Gremillion said.

“We want to build a database,” he said.

“We’ve been targeting sick people, but testing people who don’t claim to be sick helps in the overall view of what (coronavirus) looks like. We can also identify how many people in the community are asymptomatic. Those people are susceptible to infecting others.”

Testing has become simpler, with each person swabbing their nose, instead of having someone else do it. The average wait time ranges from 25-35 minutes, Gremillion said.

“It could be up to 45 minutes in some cases,” he added.

The amount of personnel assisting at the Civic Center drive-in site was roughly half than at Burton, Gremillion said. There were 18 National Guard personnel assisting with traffic and supplying medics to assist with testing on Tuesday, along with two staffers from the Calcasieu Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Testing continues today (9 a.m.-noon) at the West Cal Arena, 401 Arena Road, Sulphur. Line up begins at 8:30 a.m.

As many as 130 tests can be performed each day. It could take up to five days to get results.

Other dates and locations include:

May 7 — Lake Charles Civic Center, 900 N. Lakeshore Drive

May 11 — Vinton City Hall, 1200 Horridge St.

May 12 — DeQuincy City Hall, 300 N. Holly St.

May 13 — Iowa City Hall, 115 N. Thompson Ave.

May 14 — Westlake City Hall, 1001 Mulberry St.

May 15 — TBA

No pets are allowed at the testing sites. Restrooms will not be available.