Winter weather, holiday closures lead to hour-plus wait times at state-run COVID-19 testing sites

Several COVID-19 testing sites in Raleigh led by Mako Medical and NCDHHS saw increased demand and wait times of over an hour on Monday.

Leaders of the lab running the PNC Arena site say Sunday’s winter storm and the closure of other sites due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day drove more people than usual to seek a test there.

As Sunday’s icy conditions kept many drivers off the roads, they also shut down COVID-19 testing in the Triangle for the day.

After the thaw, some people needing tests set out for sites run by Wake County, only to find them empty – closed for Monday’s MLK Day.

A search online on Monday morning showed all five of the county’s testing sites were out of appointments until Wednesday, but many people couldn’t wait until then.

“Wake county has been maybe a little above average today,” Mako Medical Labs manager Daniel Watkins said. “Down below 20 minutes, that’s always our goal, but sometimes we do see wait times get up to that 60, 90-minute range.”

A spokesperson for Mako Medical said the company saw a surge in demand Monday at the four sites they run with DHHS in Wake County.

The line to get in PNC Arena wrapped around the block in both directions throughout the day as hundreds of cars looked to make their way through the parking lot and get tested.

WRAL News went through the process ourselves, starting out around the corner on Trinity road, easing up through the line until reaching Edwards Mill, then finally entering the grounds at PNC Arena.

After slowly moving one car at a time towards the arena, we got a testing kit and handed it off to be tested.

Total time in line: an hour and 24 minutes.

“The issue for us is when you have a surge like you had in the last month,” Watkins said. “And the demand in testing is the people.”

While the county’s COVID-19 testing sites with Radeas Labs have been able to get results back to people the same day, Mako told WRAL News their tests are taking more time to turn around.

“Our goal is always to keep it under 24 hours, but with this surge in demand we have seen some tests getting closer to the 48-hour mark,” Watkins said.

Despite the increase in demand, Mako Medical stressed their lab does have testing capacity available for anyone who needs a COVID-19 screening.