GASTONIA, N.C. — COVID-19 test providers in Gaston, Lincoln and Catawba counties are all seeing a spike in the number of people seeking tests.
StarMed Healthcare said, over the last two weeks, the number of tests it's performed at its Gastonia location tripled, with 28% of patients testing positive.
The number of tests also tripled at its Catawba County location, with a 19.7% positivity rate.
Denise Childers, a healthcare worker, got re-tested at StarMed's Gastonia clinic Tuesday after spending the last few days quarantining with the virus.
"You got to do what you got to do," Childers said. "If you go anywhere else, you're going to wait anyway."
Reva Holland, the director of medical operations at Kintegra Health, said its Gastonia testing site has seen a rush of people seeking COVID-19 tests.
"We have shifted staff as we needed to," Holland said regarding staffing levels at the testing site. "It takes all hands that we can get at certain times, especially with these higher demands [for tests]."
The Lincoln County Health Department said, at the start of December, its testing clinic with OptumServe performed 100 COVID-19 tests a day, but the site is now performing 500 COVID-19 tests a day.
While Gastonia’s lines may be long, Childers is glad she doesn't have to wait nearly as long as some people in Charlotte.
"I think that’s crazy," Childers said. "But, it's a lot of people getting sick out here so [you] got to get checked."
For more information on Gaston County's COVID-19 testing locations, visit here.
Lincoln County's COVID-19 testing locations can be found here.
Catawba County's COVID-19 testing locations can be found here.
Contact Brandon Golder at bgoldner@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
WCNC Charlotte is part of seven major media companies and other local institutions reporting on and engaging the community around the problems and solutions as they relate to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a project of the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, which is supported by the Local Media Project, an initiative launched by the Solutions Journalism Network with support from the Knight Foundation to strengthen and reinvigorate local media ecosystems. See all of our reporting at charlottejournalism.org.