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Dept. of Health Shifts Covid Testing Strategy to Drive-Through and Prioritizes Symptomatic Patients as Demand For Testing Surges
The V.I. Dept. of Health on Thursday said it shifted to temporarily cease its Tuesday and Thursday Covid-19 pop-up testing events on St. Croix and St. Thomas as the department sets out to improve its free testing options by expanding daily drive-through testing while prioritizing symptomatic patients and close contact of a confirmed positive case.
The change will not impact pop-up testing and vaccination that occur on Wednesdays on St. John, D.O.H. said.
Testing will be conducted drive-thru style at the Charles Harwood Complex from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and at the Schneider Regional Medical Center from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. by appointment only, according to D.O.H.
Covid-19 Mitigation Team Lead Dr. Debra Wright-Francis shared her thoughts on the recent changes. “D.O.H. remains committed to making testing available to the community. The surge in the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 has dictated a pivot to addressing the symptomatic patients and contacts first.”
The department said it is also working with private providers to expand testing options. Due to the current surge and high testing demand, D.O.H. is urging the community to schedule their testing online, utilize the epidemiology hotline, or contact private providers directly "so that we can better accommodate everyone in need of testing at this time."
As of Thursday, positive cases had dropped to 279 territory-wide, 187 on St. Thomas, 86 on St. Croix and 6 on St. John.
Pop-up vaccinations will continue throughout the community at previously used pop-up testing sites. The current schedule for pop-up vaccinations is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Charles Harwood Complex on St. Croix and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Cost-U-Less on St. Thomas.
Community Vaccination Centers remain open on St. Croix and St. Thomas. Anyone 12 and older can get the COVID-19 vaccine by walking into any of our Community Vaccination Centers in both districts, according to the release.
