MU Health Care closes COVID-19 testing site amid falling cases

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

MU Health Care's COVID-19 testing clinic on Keene St. has closed its doors, but the health system still offers tests.

Eric Maze, spokesman for MU Health Care, said the hospital's incident command team based on case data and community prevalence felt like it was a good time to close the clinic.

“Our incident command team decided now is the time to scale back and go back to more normal operations," Maze said.

The clinic saw an increase in demand for testing in January when the omicron variant was surging throughout the state.

In January,  statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations were at a record high with daily numbers around 4,000. Over the past week, hospitalizations have fallen to near 1,500.

"In January we were seeing about a thousand people per day that we were testing. Now that number has dropped 65 percent in the last couple weeks," Maze said.

In January, the Columbia Boone County health department reported anywhere from 500 to 800 positive patients a day. The health department reported 28 positive tests on February 23rd.

Some local pharmacies no longer offer the test like Walmart and Walgreens. Boone Health, Hy-Vee and Columbia Urgent Care offer testing.

MU Health Care still has options for testing. 

“We're trying to move back to more normal operations where we're handling testing and vaccination through out primary care clinics, quick cares and urgent care,” Maze said.

If cases go back up, the hospital could re-open the testing site.

Many pharmacies in the area also have at-home testing kits available including Kilgores, Flows and D&H Drugstore.

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