ATLANTA — A COVID-19 testing mega-site will close its doors on Sept. 11 having reached roughly 10,000 residents in its five weeks of being active, according to the Department of Public Health.
It's an impressive number but also a capacity it was touted as capable of handling in two days.
The Georgia Department of Public Health points to a significant decrease in demand for COVID testing statewide at the same time the site was in operation. However, in a statement, the state agency said it was glad to have reached those it did.
"We are grateful that the site was available and able to provide testing for nearly 10,000 Georgians who did seek testing there," spokesperson Nancy Nydam said.
However, adding up the numbers of actual tests performed in the time period - not individual people referred to in the DPH statement - appears to show a slightly more positive number: 17,852.
It's unclear if the discrepancy is the result of some people being tested more than once over the time period. However, even this number over five weeks falls short of what the site was capable of handling in just one.
The mega-site, opened in early August on Sullivan Road in College Park, was originally set to operate for just 12 days according to the DPH but was later extended to Sept. 11.
At the time, the testing mega-site was touted as a destination that could handle more than 5,000 people per day - or about 20,000 in its first week.
Roughly a third of that capacity was used in that time, which new data shows was also when the site saw its largest influx of people requesting a test there.
Excluding the first day shown in testing numbers provided by DPH, the site tested more than 1,200 people each day of that week. Testing in the weeks following fell, on average, from there until the most recent week on record. Testing saw its lowest numbers at the mega-site on Sept. 3 at 390 people and the highest on Aug. 12 with 1,446.
By the fifth week of testing - this week - the site saw only about 480 people a day on average - though counts for Friday aren't yet available.
Despite the decrease in people testing at the site, Fulton County still leads the state in total confirmed cases and deaths. Nearby Clayton County is seventh in both cases and deaths according to DPH records.
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