The partnership will allow Tarrant County Public Health to provide MedStar with testing kits and a list of individuals who may require in-home testing for COVID-19, or coronavirus. Specially trained MedStar personnel will then provide an at-home medical assessment and collect any samples needed for additional testing.
According to officials, the purpose of the program is to prevent individuals who are under investigation for the virus from traveling in public for follow-up testing.
“This is a hard time for everyone,” Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said. “We are going to get through this.”
According to Whitley, the mobile testing partnership is in response to a lack of FEMA drive-thru testing sites across the state.
The Texas Department of Health and Human Services initially asked FEMA for 10 drive-thru sites but only received six, Whitley said. FEMA testing sites were divided equally between Harris County, Bexar County and Dallas County.
Not accounting for testing done in private labs, Tarrant County Public Health is currently performing up to 150 tests per day for coronavirus. The county announced March 30 that there were 155 total confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county.
There are currently more than 122,000 reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States. The virus causes respiratory illness along with coughing, fever and shortness of breath. Preventative measures recommended by Tarrant County Public Health include social distancing, washing hands often, avoiding face touching and frequently disinfecting oft-touched objects and surfaces.
