Health department to launch new COVID test site as Pierce County tries to meet demand
As Omicron and the Delta variants of COVID-19 continue to rage in Pierce County, demand for testing has led to the shutdown of at least one testing site as state and local officials scramble to deploy more tests and get another site up and running.
A new site at the Washington State Fair Bronze Lot in Puyallup will open Thursday (Jan. 6) and run for two months. Hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No appointments will be necessary, unlike the Cheney Stadium and Bonney Lake testing sites, among others, where appointments are required.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is partnering with the Washington State Fair and the City of Puyallup to stand up the new site.
The site will offer only PCR tests the first few days, with rapid antigen tests available some time after that, according to Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department COVID-19 media representative Kenny Via.
“For this week, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, it’s just PCR tests,” Via told The News Tribune.
The other fairgrounds testing site managed by the county’s Department of Emergency Management at the Gold Lot runs through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
On Wednesday, Pierce County announced its Lakewood location, which has had to close early several days because of overflowing crowds and traffic concerns, would be shut down for good.
“After today, Jan. 5, our Lakewood site is closing due to safety concerns in the area,” the county posted on social media. “The location is not suitable for the high volume of those testing. We’re currently evaluating other sites that can handle additional capacity.”
The former vehicle emissions site, which had operated for months with offering drive-thru COVID testing without incident, has struggled in recent days to handle the demand as people seek tests following the holidays.
Pierce County has reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases since Dec. 26.
Via said the problem hasn’t been supplying sites with tests, but rather improving the time it takes getting people through the sites.
“We’re trying to get as many tests as possible, but right now, it’s more getting people through the sites than it is the actual supply of tests,” he said.
While the county has not imposed any limit on who can get tested, local officials have been recommending people suspecting exposure or with symptoms to test at home, if possible, to ease the strain on local testing sites. However, the national shortage of home tests has complicated that request as patrons find empty shelves at local drugstores or delayed deliveries from online retailers also facing a backlog of supply.
“We have a great demand for testing right now,” said Kejuan Woods, incident commander for the Health Department’s COVID-19 response, in Wednesday’s announcement. “We encourage people with respiratory symptoms to get tested — especially the elderly and with other health conditions. If you don’t have COVID symptoms or haven’t been exposed, please consider using an at home test,” he said. “We’re working with all our partners to provide more testing options for the community.”
Woods told Tacoma-Pierce County Board of Health members on Wednesday the expectation was for the new site to perform around 1,500 tests a day.
On Wednesday, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that the state Department of Health had acquired 800,000 at-home testing kits this week, with an additional 4.7 million tests expected to arrive next week.
Inslee said the tests will be available in several ways, including through school systems and health departments.
The Biden administration also has announced free tests to be made available nationwide in the coming weeks. Washington state in the meantime has partnered with both Amazon and CareEvolution for a web portal to allow for home testing, Inslee announced, with details to come in the coming weeks.
The Pierce County Library System told The News Tribune on Wednesday that it had home tests available, but supply was “going quickly.”
“We encourage people to call their local Pierce County Library before traveling to a library to ensure kits are available,” said Mary Getchell, media representative. for the system.
“On Dec. 31, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department sent us 1,200 COVID-19 test kits. Most libraries ran out immediately. Today, Jan. 5, we picked up 1,200 more kits from the health department and those will be in libraries tomorrow afternoon (Jan. 6.)
“It is possible we will have another 1,200 kits available on Jan. 7,” she added.
The kits are not rapid tests, but rather home tests you then have to take to a UPS Store or UPS drop box to eventually receive results via
The tests also are available via Tacoma Public Library and Puyallup Public Library, as supplies are available.
For updated lists of testing sites and appointment registration/requirements, go to tpchd.org/healthy-people/diseases/covid-19/testing-information and piercecountywa.gov/7086/Pierce-County-Covid-19-Testing-Site
Other testing recommendations
MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care locations offer COVID-19 test options:
▪ People with COVID-19 symptoms can receive a COVID-19 rapid PCR test. Results are available same day, typically within a few hours.
▪ People with a known exposure to COVID-19, but no symptoms can opt for a standard PCR test. These results take 1-2 days.
▪ Those who need a COVID-19 test to be cleared for events, travel or school admissions can receive a rapid test and necessary paperwork. These tests are $250 and are rarely covered by insurance because they are not deemed medically necessary. People should contact their insurance provider for more information.
Franciscan Medical Group and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health offer the following tips for patients in their health network:
▪ Patients experiencing COVID-19 symptoms can call their primary care doctor, or walk-in at a local Urgent/Prompt Care if they need a COVID-19 test. Walk-in appointments are subject to test and staff availability, and are reserved for symptomatic patients.
▪ Symptoms for which you should call your medical provider include: shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain, high fever, dizziness/lightheadedness.
▪ Sick and symptomatic patients take priority for appointments.
“Asymptomatic or patients seeking testing for travel should utilize state and county resources to find available appointments,” the health system said.
“Please do not visit the hospital or emergency department for routine, asymptomatic or travel testing.”
The state Department of Health also offers more tips online: What to do if you test positive for COVID-19.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 3:29 PM.
