Mobile COVID-19 testing directed to underserved neighborhoods is under way in Schenectady.
It's been a busy Tuesday at Mont Pleasant Middle School where several Schenectady-based health care organizations have joined forces to bring coronavirus testing to city neighborhoods. Rory Schmit is the Dental Director at Hometown Health Center:
"This is very crucial to the county of Schenectady. We have very limited testing so by having acces through Ellis and Hometown and public health, it's really gonna give access to all the residents of Schenectady County to get a better idea of what's going on. Most of the testing has been in Albany County, very limited in Schenectady and Rensselaer, so our numbers aren't accurate as of right now."
Schmit says there is an urgent need to expand the number of symptomatic people who are tested in order to minimize the risk of spread, and also help build a database of individuals who, after full recovery, may be candidates to donate plasma to help combat the virus in others.
Leslyn Williamson, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer with Ellis Medicine, says the majority of people in Schenectady affected by COVID19 are African-American and Latino.
"And that's been shown also from the statistics in New York City. So it's imperative for us to do this, knowing that lots of community members are affected with lots of premorbidity, hypertension, diabetes, those are the two that, you know, seem to come up each and every time that someone is actually hospitalized."
Ellis, with support from Schenectady County Public Health Services and MVP Health Care, began the new set of testing sites on Monday. Williamson adds the primary goal is to reach symptomatic people who have limited access to transportation, and may not have a primary care physician. Mont Pleasant is one of a handful of sites available for both walk-up and drive-up testing.
Of 146 individuals tested Monday, Williamson says more than 70% were people of color.
"We've seen it across the country, Louisiana, New York City, again look at all the sidebars that currently have played out. For us in the Capital Region, we would be foolish not to take heed of the warning that happened outside of our region."
Officials say expanded testing is now possible due to an increase in testing supplies, even though high demand continues to present serious challenges. The partners have requested additional kits and supplies from the New York State Department of Health.
