ATLANTA — Testing lines wrapped around city blocks in Atlanta Tuesday as hundreds of people lined up to be screened for COVID-19.
We have not seen a run on testing like this in months – and it has caused a lot of frustration around the metro.
11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross went to Viral Solutions in North Druid Hills, where at some points the line stretched half a mile down the road.
A lot of people said they left before getting tested and went to buy at-home tests but found those were sold out too.
"There were two different people who tested positive, so obviously we wanted to get her tested," mother Kimberly Minor said.
Getting tested for COVID is nothing new for her. Her 4-year-old daughter Georgia is medically fragile and her dad was really sick, so she used to get tested a lot.
"I haven't had to get tested in a couple months, but assumed it would be just as simple. It was not," she said.
She says every single site she tried was booked up.
"They told me they were completely out of any tests until Monday – and I was like – 'How do I get tested?' And they said, well, it's really hard to come by," she said.
She ended up finding an at-home test for $50 but even those were hard to come by Tuesday with stores posting signs that they’re out.
"We have a finite number of resources like we have been saying for the last two years, which I cannot believe it's been two years. But we have a finite number of resources, like testing, and when we are out, we are out," Dr. Mehrdod Etheshami said.
He says the demand is so high right now because the new omicron variant spreads so quickly, it’s causing cases to surge in just a matter of days.
"The thing to know about this variant is that it replicates really fast. We don't know a lot about it yet, but we know it replicates fast. So what that means is that a test that's negative today won't be negative tomorrow if you have COVID right now," he said.
11Alive's numbers team checked to see how COVID cases have changed since right before Thanksgiving. The number of people coming down with COVID started skyrocketing. Even though testing only went up a little bit.
The CDC wants to see positivity below 5 percent – that's the orange line in the graph below. In just one week, that rate has doubled.
Dr. Etheshami says people shouldn't rush to change their holiday plans but if you want to get tested for COVID, you should do it the day of those plans.
"I am recommending to my friends and family that they get tested the day they intend to travel," Dr. Emily Volk said, the President of the College of American Pathologists.
"We are so sick of this whole thing. We are nearly 2 years into this pandemic, and we would all love to just burn our masks and gather like we used to, pre 2020. But it's not safe," she said.
Volk says time is ticking for people to get tested for COVID before gathering for the holidays. She says it's vital that people moving through airports, train stations and bus terminals mask up in the holiday crowds, and make sure they're in the clear before attending any holiday events.
"It's the week of Christmas, nobody wants to have COVID," Minor said.