DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia health officials blame severe weather for shutting down at least three mass COVID testing sites across metro Atlanta. One site in Cherokee County, and both mass testing sites in DeKalb County were closed Thursday per the Georgia Department of Public Health.
"The safety of individuals seeking testing and the staff at outdoor DPH COVID testing sites is our first priority," a spokesperson for DPH said. "Given the severity of the weather in some areas and the potential for even worse in others, the safest course of action was to close the sites most affected. We cannot put staff or clients at risk when lightning, high winds, flooding and the possibility of tornadoes are occurring."
The storm hit DeKalb County at the worst time. The county has registered more than 9,000 cases in the last two weeks, with a positivity rate of more than eight times the recommended 5% by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fitzpatrick DeCaro tried to get a test at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, one of the two mass testing sites in DeKalb County. However, with lines backed out to the street, he decided not to get a test that day.
"Culturally, everyone is asking us to get tested in order to carry on with our lives, and if we can’t get tested, how are we supposed to carry on?” DeCaro said. “I think there are downstream effects that closing one site has on all of DeKalb County and the greater Atlanta area. The biggest effect is going to be kids going back to school on Monday, and people that have to go to work will have to stay home from work to take care of her kids because they can’t get a test to get the kids back in school. This whole thing is just a mess.”
Dr. Jodie Guest, vice chair of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said those who can't find a test and show symptoms of COVID-19 should assume they are positive with the virus.
"That would mean to isolate from anyone you live with," Guest said. "If you can’t stay completely separated from them, make sure you have a mask on at all times until you can find your way to a test.”
Guest said anyone exhibiting symptoms who's unvaccinated, six months removed from a two-dose vaccine or two months removed from a one-dose vaccine, should isolate for five days. After that, Guest suggested they take an antigen test and continue to wear a mask. If someone has symptoms and they are vaccinated and boosted, the current guidance is to wear a mask in public for 10 days and get an antigen test after day five.
Guest said anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 and is asymptomatic should isolate for five days and wear a mask when in public for the next five days. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, and shows symptoms within the first five days after testing positive, should isolate for ten days.
Guest also warned against going to a local hospital for a COVID test, as hospitals across the state are starting to become overwhelmed with patients. Anyone who takes an antigen test should wait 24-48 hours to take it after showing symptoms, Guest said.
Guest noted patience will be key, especially as New Year's gatherings could drive up the demand for testing even more. But with potentially pricey at-home tests hard to come by, and testing sites already booked through the weekend, it could be well into the new year before DeCaro and others wanting tests can get one.
“It is tough when there’s a lot of demand, and there has not been much demand in the previous weeks to all of a sudden have our testing sites flooded and a lot of people still looking for tests," Guest said. "People who are doing the testing sites are working as hard as they can to try and accommodate everyone, but the sheer number is overwhelming."
The Department of Public Health said other options for testing are available through private providers, commercial pharmacies and labs and local health departments. The North DeKalb Health Center will be the only mass testing site operating in the county on New Year's Eve, open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.