South Lake Tahoe seeing surge in COVID-19 - Testing sites keeping busy

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Cases of COVID-19 are surging across the country due to a spread during the holidays and the emergence of the new variant Omnicron. In the past seven days, El Dorado County has recorded 1,075 new cases of COVID-19, 250 of those in the Lake Tahoe region of the county.

"Similar to the rest of California, our region is beginning to see an uptick in COVID cases," said Barton Health Public Information Officer Mindi Befu. "The majority of cases are among people able to recover at home, and hospitalizations are currently stable although expected to increase over the next two weeks. Barton Memorial Hospital retains its COVID surge plans, which include partnerships with El Dorado County and the State of
California for staffing assistance if necessary, and remains prepared to care for our community."

Due to the surge, the State of California has extended mask requirements for people indoors one more month to February 15. Everyone in counties experiencing substantial or high transmission levels in Nevada, including fully vaccinated individuals, is required to wear a mask in public indoor settings.

"The case rise that we're seeing in El Dorado is just getting going and hospitalizations tend to lag by several weeks," said Nancy Williams, the county's public health director. "I would not expect to see significant increases in hospitalizations, if we see them, until mid-January or later."

After almost two years, Barton has discontinued the COVID-19 Health Line, as COVID assessment, testing, and treatment is now integrated within existing medical services, said Befu. If someone is experiencing symptoms of COVID, it is recommended they contact their primary care provider’s office. If a person does not have a primary care provider, they can be seen at an urgent care medical facility. Anyone experiencing a medical emergency should call 9-1-1 or go to the Emergency Department for immediate medical assistance.

COVID-19 Testing

Rapid at-home testing kits are flying off grocery and drug store shelves, and testing appointments with LHI are filling up. For same-day results, a South Lake Tahoe-based company has been filling a growing demand for COVID-19 testing.

Test Well of South Lake Tahoe serves not only the lake but also Reno. They are the area's only Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified lab delivering Same-day RT-PCR COVID-19 test results.

Co-founder Charles Boldwyn said they are processing about 150 samples a day and haven't fallen below a 30 percent positive rate since December 28, 2021.

"South Lake Tahoe samples are the highest positivity this week," said Boldwyn of the tests they conduct. "The Tahoe samples are between 30-40 percent positive."

Test Well conducts a lot of traveler testing and he said those tend to not be positive since they don't always test because of symptoms like others are, they test because of the travel requirements. That is starting to change.

"Before we never saw a positive travel test," said Boldwyn.

LHI does the biggest chunk of testing in Lake Tahoe but results are taking two to three days, which is why Test Well has been seeing an increase in business since a three-day result is almost useless in preventing the spread, said Boldwyn. They do drive-through testing at the old Chevy's building by appointment only, then take the samples to their nearby lab. Two-thirds of the samples they process are from South Lake Tahoe, and one-third are done in Reno where clients are a mix from the Northern Nevada and Truckee areas.

Boldwyn said their saliva test is more sensitive to the current variants of COVID-19 than the nose swab tests. Preliminary evidence shows that the Omicron variant doesn't rest in the lungs like the previous versions and it's more bronchial. He said the saliva samples pick up the viral nature of the variant.

Test well conducts tests every day and only closed for three days in the past year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. Results are back in an average of six hours, allowing people to know almost right away if they are positive for the coronavirus. The quick results allow those found positive to start the suggested isolation period and to stay home from work to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

If a person is symptomatic and a test is medically necessary, Test Well will bill insurance, or they charge $149 for a quick test for those not having symptoms.

"Our primary mission is to increase access to testing," said Boldwyn.

Like everyone else, staffing is a challenge so appointments are about a week out. Test Well meters appointments so they can turn results around quickly, something they can't do if too many people book a test.

"Due to the massive increase in cases and the fact that appointments are limited, we're asking people to give priority to those in need of a test," said Boldwyn. "We're trying to find the right balance to respond to this surge and make sure those that need it are getting it.

Williams said her office has already distributed 4,000 kits through various community partner agencies and will repeat that process as more kits arrive.

More on at-home test kits from the State of California HERE.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District has a testing site for students and staff on Thursday and Friday this week, and they are waiting for a supply of at-home antigen tests to be distributed.

For all local testing sites and other information. visit Barton Health's website at https://www.bartonhealth.org/tahoe/testing-sites.aspx