Individuals seeking COVID testing sites following the holidays

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

With the recent surge and the end of the holidays, some Mid-Missourians are now going to the clinics seeking COVID -19 testing. Around noon Monday, about a dozen people were standing in the cold, outside MU Health's 2003 W. Broadway, Suite 100, location waiting to get tested.

The sidewalk was full of people waiting to get tested. Lisa Cox, public information officer with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, says they are seeing an increased testing trend across the state.

Darian Horne, a Columbia resident was one of the many people to get tested. "I just was in close contact with somebody that just had COVID not too long ago," said Horne

Horne told ABC 17 News he believes he was exposed to COVID when he went to visit his friends and family over the holiday.

In Missouri, there have been over 200,000 PCR and Antigen tests administered and 2,154 hospitalizations as of December 31st.

The wait time for tests at MU Health's West Broadways location appeared to be long Monday but that wasn't the case. Horne told ABC 17 he arrived at 12:30 Monday afternoon and was out in ten minutes.

"I didn't have any wait at all. There was no wait at all. Soon as I pulled up. I got seen. So it was kind of surprising but that's what happened," said Horne.

Eric Maze, with MU Health, says an average of 300 people are seeking tests at the West Broadway location now compared to 100 just three weeks ago. MU's West Broadway location will now limit outpatient testing to only people who are experiencing symptoms.

MU Health says if people stop in to get a test, they will not be turned down. However, they ask individuals who are seeking testing for travel or similar reasons to use alternatives first before stopping at their West Broadway location.

According to the CDC, over 712-million tests have been administrated as of Dec. 27th in the United States with over 54 million coming back positive.