It’s a routine Sonia Herrera has gotten used to since she started working at a COVID-19 testing site in December. She arrives about 8 a.m., puts on a mask and purple gloves and heads out to wait for people to drive up.
For the past week, there’s been a line of cars already waiting by the time Herrera arrives at the drive-through run by YesNoCovid in an old gas station at Northwest Highway and Abrams Road in northeast Dallas.
On Tuesday morning, about 30 vehicles wrapped around the site and spilled over into the road.
“I was very exhausted and overwhelmed,” Herrera said.
She said the site usually processes 30 to 40 tests for coronavirus a day. But over the past week, they’ve tested more than 100 people a day — sometimes nearly 200. Herrera said they hired three more people to keep up.
The increased demand for tests comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations spike in North Texas. Since mid-July, Dallas and Tarrant counties have seen one-day case totals and two-week new-case averages that are the highest they’ve been since February.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called out Texas, saying that the state has “the most extreme” measure to ban mask and vaccine mandates.
Despite rising metrics throughout Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a sweeping executive order Thursday banning mask requirements by governments and public school systems, and outlawing vaccine requirements by any entity that receives public money.
“I say to these governors, please help,” Biden said. “If you’re not going to help, please get out of the way.
‘I just wanted to be safe’
As of Monday, 3,199,403 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Dallas County, according to the state. Of those tests, 64,445 of them were from the past week — the highest number of new tests in a week since early February.
The number of tests done in Dallas County has been steadily climbing since the first full week of July, when 27,671 tests were done. The week after, 38,869 tests were done and in the week before last, 46,420 tests were completed.
The YesNoCovid testing site is in the same area near Lake Highlands where Dallas County Health and Human Services Community Outreach program staffers talked with people one-to-one about getting vaccinated.
Recently, Dallas County moved its COVID-19 threat level back up to orange for unvaccinated people in response to surging cases and hospitalizations. The increased level means there’s a moderate risk of COVID-19 transmission, whereas the previous level — yellow — meant low risk for transmission in the community.
Kendra Thompson, 30, walked to the YesNoCovid site Tuesday, with her 2-year-old son in a stroller. She had attended a friend’s birthday party last weekend — the first outing she’d gone on since the pandemic began — and knew she wanted to go to the testing site after.
“I just wanted to be safe because I have him,” Thompson said, pointing to her son. “So as soon as I got home, I knew this was up the street.”
Thompson hasn’t gotten a COVID-19 vaccine. She said her family members also haven’t gotten shots because they’re skeptical of them, but she would consider them when the vaccines received full FDA approval.
“I’m open to it, just not right now,” she said.
According to the state, 1,360,582 people in Dallas County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 1,146,489 — 52.6% of the county’s eligible population 12 and older — are fully vaccinated.
Dallas resident Rachel Eley, 22, has been fully vaccinated since February but wanted to get tested “just in case.” She’d noticed the recent rise in cases, and people around her recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Eley said she got to the YesNoCovid site about 8:45 a.m. By noon, she was still in line waiting for her result.
“It’s honestly, one, overwhelming and, two, a bit concerning,” Eley said. “It makes me scared to see.”
But not all sites in the county have lines like the YesNoCovid site.
Arielle Perez, 18, got tested for COVID-19 at a kiosk managed by Curative in Far East Dallas, which had little to no line Tuesday afternoon.
Perez said she wanted to be tested for COVID-19 because she was showing symptoms of the illness.
“This is like our third time getting tested because we just came back from traveling,” she said. “We didn’t want to get spooked, but we were showing symptoms.”
Perez said she first heard about the more-infectious delta variant and the recent spikes in cases reported around the country when she got back from her travels.
She added that she had not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 and said she hopes to get a shot soon.
“When I heard about the new delta variant, I was, like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ You know? It’s very scary,” Perez said. “I thought everything was going good, but now it sounds like everything is getting worse.”
Ahjanae Atkinson, 24, a mother of two, also got tested at the Curative site Tuesday. She said she wanted to get tested for COVID-19 after a family member whom she had contact with at a funeral last week tested positive.
“Everybody should get tested just in case. You might not feel sick, but you still might have it,” Atkinson said. “I feel fine, I just wanted to get tested to make sure that I don’t spread it.”
Atkinson said she had not yet been vaccinated for COVID-19.
“I had COVID-19, and I guess I was just not in a rush to get one,” she said. “I have to get it because my family is making me get a shot.”
Dallas County
Dallas County reported a three-day total of five COVID-19 deaths and 2,132 new coronavirus cases Tuesday.
Of the new cases, 1,949 were confirmed and 183 were probable. The numbers bring the county’s overall case total to 319,839, including 274,149 confirmed and 45,690 probable. The death toll is 4,211.
The average number of new daily cases in the county for the last two weeks is 651 — more than double the previous 14-day average of 263. This is the highest two-week average the county has seen since Feb. 21.
The county reported that 413 people were hospitalized with the virus.
Dallas County no longer releases coronavirus data on weekends and instead reports three-day totals on Tuesdays.
Tarrant County
Tarrant County reported one death and 508 cases Tuesday.
Of the new cases, 483 were confirmed and 25 were probable. The numbers bring the county’s case total to 275,494, including 229,586 confirmed and 45,908 probable. The death toll is 3,655.
The county reported that 636 people were hospitalized with the virus, the most since late February.
According to the state, 1,016,064 people in Tarrant County have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 882,949 — 50.8% of the county’s population 12 and older — are fully vaccinated.
Texas
Across the state, 14,561 more cases were reported Tuesday, including 14,239 new cases and 322 older ones recently reported by labs.
The state also reported 51 COVID-19 deaths, raising its toll to 52,161.
Of the new cases, 11,774 were confirmed and 2,465 were probable. Of the older cases, 101 were confirmed and 221 were probable.
The state’s case total is now 3,147,040, including 2,670,535 confirmed and 476,505 probable.
The state reported that 7,305 people were hospitalized with the virus statewide, including 1,783 in North Texas. Both numbers were at their highest levels since late February.
According to the state, 15,005,971 people in Texas have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, while 12,748,527 — 53.0% of the state’s population 12 and older — are fully vaccinated.
