LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — The number of people getting tested for COVID-19 around Kansas City, Missouri, is dropping, and health leaders say the trend is both good and bad.
It’s good because the numbers of people getting sick, going to the hospital and dying are also down.
It’s bad because health leaders rely on a baseline of tests to help them get the most accurate information to craft policies about masks, bar curfews, capacity limits and more.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the nine-county Kansas City region conduct 3,000 daily tests to get the best information. In February, the region dipped below that benchmark.
The extreme cold weather may have been one factor in fewer people getting tested.
“It’s important that we, when we’re talking about a decline in cases, that we’re as accurate as we possibly can be with those assertions so that the decisions we’re making moving forward are going to give us the best chance to be successful in the long run which is why we actually need testing as part of our strategy moving forward as we ramp up our vaccination efforts,” explained Ray Dlugolecki, the assistant health director at the Jackson County, Missouri, Health Department.
Jackson County and many other health departments continue to hold free testing events. Many now offer saliva-based testing, which eliminates the need for the uncomfortable nasopharyngeal swab.
In Wyandotte County, Kansas, Vibrant Health and the Health Equity Task Force are offering free groceries as an incentive for people who get tested at its pop-up locations.
The Unified Government Public Health Department’s chief epidemiologist, Elizabeth Groenweghe, said testing is more important now than ever.
She explained that when COVID-19 cases in the metro were at their peak around Thanksgiving, the health department could barely keep up with contact tracing.
“Now that case numbers are so small, we can really respond robustly,” Groenweghe said. “It’s very, very important we identify those cases.”
Groenweghe, Dlugolecki and Dr. Rex Archer, the leader of Kansas City, Missouri’s health department, agree testing is necessary to understand if new variants of the virus are present in the community and to identify people with the virus so they can isolate and quarantine.
The most tests the Kansas City Health Department conducted in one day throughout all of February was 56. It has the capacity to test 150 daily. The last time it tested 100 people was Jan. 11, 2021.
Dr. Sanmi Areola from the Johnson County, Kansas, Department of Health and Environment, and others said testing is critical as states roll out the vaccine in order to identify the best intervention methods to get ahead of the virus.
“We have to have a good understanding of what’s going on in the community with this virus so we can avoid those spikes that really put us back at square one all over again, and we do not want that to happen, especially as we’re so close with the vaccine being available,” Dlugolecki added.
Each health department has information listed on its website to find free testing sites and make appointments:
