People experience long lines at COVID-19 testing sites in underserved communities

CHARLOTTE — A Hidden Valley church was one of the roving site locations for Atrium Health and Monday hospital officials want to make sure the purpose of the specific roving testing sites is clear to the broader community.

“It’s been extremely busy,” said The Rev. Cathy Jones, pastor at Parkwood Institutional CME Church. “The line has been wrapped around the building all day.”

The church is a community partner that served as a testing site.

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“I’m really excited and glad that our church, Parkwood, was able to be a part of this service,” Jones said.

“I think it’s a very good gesture that they are targeting areas where the numbers could potentially be higher than others.”

Atrium Health has used GIS mapping to identify hotspots and the spread of COVID-19 on a map to determine where to set up drive-up roving testing sites in underserved communities.

“We set up these testing sites very early on in the pandemic as a critical strategy to guard against racial and ethnic disparities in low-income communities,” said Kinneil Coltman, who is with Atrium Health.

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In recent weeks, Coltman said they’ve noticed a huge increase in people outside of the communities coming to get tested at those sites, and they’re having to shut the lines down early to process everyone who has showed up.

"For many low-income communities, there are barriers such as transportation, access to technology or working in an essential job, so that you need to be able to access testing in after-hours times,” Coltman said. “These roving units that are located in underserved communities are designed to meet the needs of those underserved communities, so we're asking for the broader community to lock arms with us in making sure that we’re not allowing these sites to be overcrowded by folks that have other pathways to access testing."

To get tested, people can call their doctors, call their COVID-19 hotline and attend a virtual visit.

Atrium officials said there are testing appointments available.

More info from Atrium.

Atrium COVID-19 Hotline is 704-468-8888

Atrium Health Statement:

"Atrium Health is asking the public to be mindful of their personal circumstances and their community, when considering the need for a COVID-19 test. With testing supplies still insufficient for widespread testing, it’s important those tests are left for the most at risk populations, including Black, Hispanic and underserved communities.

"Atrium Health uses a sophisticated data model to identify where to station roving testing centers in underserved areas of the community. There are twice as many positive COVID-19 tests at those locations, on a percentage basis, compared to other remote coronavirus testing centers stationed in and around Charlotte. Recently, people who live and work in these hotspot areas have been crowded out of testing opportunities by community members at-large who have gone to these centers rather than utilizing the more appropriate method of consulting a doctor or taking part in a virtual visit for proper screening to see if a test is warranted. "

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