Nashville’s COVID-19 stats continue trending in a positive direction except for one — the number of people getting tested at drive-thru centers. Traffic plummeted by more than 40% between the end of July and beginning of August — roughly double the drop seen statewide.
Dr. Julie Gray of Meharry Medical College oversees the sites and says testing is no less important than it was early in the pandemic, when swabs and chemicals were in short supply.
“Sure, we get tested to protect and care for ourselves, but we also do it for our community’s collective health,” she says.
Gray says people should consider getting tested anytime they come in contact with groups of unmasked people. In recent days, there is rarely a line at any drive-thru sites in Davidson County, which have performed nearly half of the 200,000 tests conducted in Davidson County.
The slowdown has helped private labs catch up on returning results, says Mayor John Cooper. The average is now down to just 48 hours.
Cooper wants employers to increase their usage of testing sites, encouraging workers or customers to get screened.
“We can use testing to get ahead of disease and be proactively safe,” he says. “Testing can help build confidence and help us reopen the economy safely, but we must use it.”
Testing remains free at Davidson County’s drive-thru sites and at public health departments around the state, with the state Department of Health picking up the cost.
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