At-home COVID tests arrive to help alleviate testing shortage in some rural areas
The first at-home tests from the federal government are starting to arrive in North Carolina.
Posted — UpdatedChris Suggs, a councilman in Kinston, said he received his tests about eight days after ordering.
Suggs says he was able to order one day before the site went live because of his work with community organizations that partner with the National Organization of Community Health Workers.
Many others — including me — have confirmation numbers from USPS that show a “Status Not Available" message.
“This is something that should have been done at the start of the pandemic,” Suggs said.
Testing numbers overall have dropped off in recent days.
During the mid-January peak, from Jan. 12-Jan. 15, North Carolina was testing about 129,000 people a day. The last four days of data, from Jan. 22-Jan. 25, show that North Carolina tested about 51,000 people a day.
That’s a 60 percent decrease from the recent testing peak.
Suggs noted that finding testing sites is more of a challenge outside of metropolitan areas. Kinston is the county seat of Lenoir County and along Highway 70, roughly 80 miles from Raleigh.
“I know how much of a need it is for our community," Suggs said. "When I compare my situation here in Kinston to where many of my friends live in the Triangle area or when I go visit my sister on campus in Chapel Hill, testing is available everywhere up there but in rural eastern North Carolina we can’t find tests like that.”
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