Kern County residents struggle to find timely tests amid omicron surge [The Bakersfield Californian]

Jan. 16—Kern County's COVID-19-testing infrastructure is showing signs of strain under a surge of the more contagious, fast-spreading omicron variant.

High demand for testing, dwindling supplies and staffing issues have made it harder to find a COVID test that is free, accessible and fast.

Residents have turned to options such as hunting for tests in pharmacies, waiting days for an appointment or paying high fees — $75 to $210 without insurance, according to the Kern County Public Health Services map — for an expedited test at a clinic.

Informal networks such as word-of-mouth and Facebook groups fill a void, pointing out stores where at-home tests are in stock or places where the wait isn't as long for a rapid test. Parents remind each other to make sure their children have picked up an at-home rapid test from their child's school. Having a pre-established relationship with a doctor, health insurance or a workplace or school that offers testing can make getting tested for COVID-19 much easier.

But even a free, accessible workplace test doesn't guarantee a quick return amid a national surge. Mark Luque, superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District, told the board he has been encouraging routine testing among district employees; but he also said the results from PCR tests, which are performed by health care professionals, have been slow. On Tuesday night, he hadn't received the results for a PCR test taken the previous Friday.

"I project it will be that way through the next several weeks," he said.

During this surge, Kaiser Permanente members have reported waiting in line for three hours. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends drugstores as free community testing sites, but local appointments are booked. On Saturday, the next available appointment from Walgreens was a PCR test in Visalia on Tuesday. The next available appointment from CVS in Kern County was in Lamont on Thursday. There was one appointment available at a Rite Aid in Bakersfield on Tuesday, but most appointments in Kern County were booked until Thursday or Friday.

Kern County Public Health points residents to a map of available testing sites. It includes a wide variety of locations: free testing sites marked in green and other kinds of sites, ranging from those with with sliding scale fees such as Omni Family Health and others such as Universal Urgent Care. It also includes up-to-date information about upcoming pop-up sites.

But some of the information can become quickly outdated or less helpful under rapidly changing surge conditions, with no availability listed at some locations or restrictions at others.

Clinica Sierra Vista locations just last week announced a new temporary policy to only offer COVID-19 tests to established patients and by appointment only.

Clinica Sierra Vista spokesman Tim Calahan said the provider made the change because of an "overwhelming" demand for tests paired with a dwindling supply. When there's a big surge, there's always a backlog. "Everyone scrambles to order and it's a waiting game," he said.

Challenges in rural communities

Rural communities face long waits, as well as a dwindling number of options.

Clinica Sierra Vista provides health care to residents in low-income communities in the Central Valley, including underserved rural communities. One of those communities is the Kern River Valley. It has a location in Wofford Heights, and it's the only other testing site between Bakersfield and Ridgecrest listed on the Kern Public Health testing map besides the Kern Valley Healthcare District.

However, the Kern Valley Healthcare District announced that it was no longer offering community testing on Dec. 29. Those who wanted to be tested would require a doctor's order and would be billed.

Kern Valley Healthcare CEO Timothy McGlew said the hospital was switching tactics in its community testing strategy. The current tactic of offering PCR tests to the community required staff and paperwork that he said was becoming increasingly untenable over the last few weeks, as some of them were infected with COVID themselves. Some days there were 15 to 20 people being tested.

"It was tying up a lot of people," he said. "My people were getting burnt out."

The hospital applied for a federal grant through the Health Resources and Services Administration that would allow them to pass out at-home test kits to residents instead of conducting the tests themselves. He said that is preferable, because residents have been demanding rapid antigen rather PCR tests so that they can know immediately whether they have COVID.

There's one problem: The tests aren't expected until at least this week.

"I've cringed on that," McGlew said. "It was the timing of the contract."

That's left a gap in testing over two weeks for what the hospital has been able to offer in the rural community. McGlew points to the school test kits that have been sent out, as well as testing available on shelves at the local Rite Aid.

But Kern River Valley residents said they're struggling to find tests.

"I keep going to Rite Aid and they're out," said Claire Hartley, a Lake Isabella resident.

Bodfish resident Beth Jimerson, whose extended family lives in the Kern River Valley, said her brother has a runny nose and can't find a place to test without a doctor's referral. Her mother is high-risk, and hasn't been feeling well; she'd like to rule out COVID, but tests aren't accessible.

Jimerson said she, like many Kern Valley residents, avoids the long trip down into Bakersfield, especially in the winter when the two-lane road through Kern Canyon can get dicey. It's tough for anyone, but particularly the elderly and those who can't afford a car in good condition or the gas.

McGlew said that the Kern River Valley tends to trend behind Bakersfield in surges. He said the surge isn't there yet the way it is in Bakersfield, though cases have started to tick up. Kern Public Health Director Brynn Carrigan has promised the Kern River Valley additional resources when they're necessary.

Hartley wonders why some of the mobile testing sites that were available earlier in the pandemic aren't available now to stop the spread in a community where large multigenerational families live in tight spaces, including mobile homes. She would like to see them in parks and parking lots.

More resources, funding on the way

Kern Public Health spokeswoman Michelle Corson said that the week of Jan. 24, the county plans to launch a mobile health clinic that will conduct testing.

"This will be deployed based upon requests we receive from agencies and upon our ongoing assessment of areas with greatest need," she said in a statement.

The state announced that $2.7 billion to fight COVID-19 is also on the way.

"We await further information from the state on how and where this funding will be allocated to individual counties," Corson wrote. "We will continue to evaluate and deploy testing and vaccination resources throughout Kern to ensure all of our residents have access to these services."

Calahan has a recommendation for those who cannot find a test: Those who have symptoms of COVID should assume that it's COVID and isolate according to CDC guidelines. He said it's a fair assumption with case rates and positivity rates so high. Kern County's seven-day test positivity rate was 25.7 percent.

"If you suspect you have it, there's a high likelihood you do," he said.

However, those who are experiencing more than minor symptoms in line with a typical cold or who have risk factors should not only seek a test but medical care, he added.

You can reach Emma Gallegos at 661-395-7394.

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