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DC residents head to COVID-19 testing sites to prepare for upcoming holiday season

Even after social distancing for Thanksgiving, multiple people getting COVID tests in D.C. Friday said they wanted to feel extra safe for the rest of the holidays.

WASHINGTON — Thanksgiving has come and gone, many people are working to figure out how they will safely celebrate the rest of the holiday season.

For some, that started with a COVID test in D.C. Friday.

Helena Dechant traveled from Alexandria with her parents and kids Friday evening to get tested at the newly opened Nationals Park garage testing site.

She said they each celebrated Thanksgiving at home with their nuclear families, as opposed to the big 20 to 30 person events they usually hold.

Dechant said still, she has a seventh grade daughter who attends a DC school in person twice a week and has elderly, immunocompromised parents, so they wanted to be "better safe than sorry."

“Now with the holidays, even though we celebrated separately, you want to make sure that you’re extra cautious, extra careful, especially with the virus on the rise," she said.

RELATED: COVID Blog: It's a mixed bag as testing numbers hit record highs ahead of Thanksgiving weekend

Before the Thanksgiving weekend, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia all reported spikes in testing. From Wednesday to Thursday, the latest available D.C. data, more than 9,200 tests were added to the city's total -- close to the recent record high on Saturday.

Workers at the Nationals testing site said the Friday after Thanksgiving, however, saw shorter lines than usual -- and people getting tested said the process moved exponentially faster than they experienced over the summer.

“This took like 90 seconds, the entire thing," DC resident Lauren Cattaneo said. "In the summer it was brutally hot and a really long line.”

D.C. resident Rachel Mann noted another big change: the request for insurance information at registration. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last week that beginning Monday, the questionnaire would ask for that information in the hopes that insurance companies would start helping to foot the bill of tests.

She said the goal is to extend the city's resources because all insurance companies are required by law to provide free testing for their participants.

"That’s why we need things like a federal package to provide funding and relief for state and local governments," Mann said. "They’re struggling to maintain this and so now they’re looking for insurance companies to foot the bill. And with the spike that’s coming up, it’s going to get worse. We definitely need more comprehensive solutions.”

Credit: James Hash
The Christian Tabernacle Church in northwest DC saw a steady small line for its COVID testing site throughout the day Friday.

Overall, the consensus of people getting tested Friday night as if there was any potential of exposure, get tested and tighten the belt as the COVID-19 surge carries us into the rest of the holiday season.

That's what Mann plans to do.

“The funny thing is I’m already a bit of a germaphobe…so this is one of the times where it’s cranking up the knob and whipping it off," she said. "Doing, even more, disinfecting around the house…and being more adamant about maintaining the distance. Maintaining the mask use, constantly washing hands. And even up the testing. We never thought that upping the testing would be something we’d have to do, but that might be something we’ll have to consider for the next few months, because anybody, even if you’re the most careful person can get it.”

Cattaneo and her daughter are looking forward to two developments next year: the vaccine is made available (they hope) and president-elect Biden taking over. Then, they said they'll feel a little bit safer and hope to see family again.

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