ARLINGTON, Va. — There is still high demand for testing in the D.C. region, even as some people travel back home after the Christmas holiday.
Communities all across the region have seen rapid increases in COVID-19 cases as more people have taken to time to get tests.
Arlington County Resident Mac Mackenzie waited in line for an hour-and-a-half Monday to get a test near the Pentagon City Mall, but he said he heard some people could not find appointments for testing in the area until at least Jan. 3.
Mackenzie said he felt it was important for him to get tested given how easily the omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads.
“This can be really asymptomatic and you can end up giving it to somebody and not know it,” he said.
Many locals feel the same way, especially as the virus continues its rapid spread.
D.C. Health data shows that 9,200 people tested positive for COVID between Dec. 23 and Dec. 26. That is the equivalent of 1 out of every 73 residents in the District.
Some communities are providing more testing opportunities for the residents in order to keep up with demand.
Loudoun County announced Monday it would hold two free COVID testing events for its residents on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., at Philip A. Bolen Memorial Park, 42405 Claudia Drive, in Leesburg.
“Our numbers have gone up about 300% In terms of the percentage of tests that have come back positive just in the last couple of weeks,” said Loudoun County Health Director Dr. David Goodfriend.
He added it's important people continue to get tested when they return from travel and approach testing the same way they did before they went to see loved ones elsewhere in the country.
“Testing is really critically important to help limit the impact of the virus,” Goodfriend said.
He said testing will also become all the more important when students, many of whom traveled over the holidays, begin to return to schools in the area after winter break.
“The last two weeks where we've had our biggest surge in cases, the school aged children have been the number one group that's been getting diagnosed," he said. "So, we have a lot of kids out there who are infected and are due to come back to school, at least in Loudoun County, within a week.”