More than half of the counties in the United States lack a designated location for coronavirus testing, the health software company Castlight found in a new report released this week.
Castlight found access to testing is more readily available in counties with higher populations as opposed to rural counties, but even where testing is available, it does not reach minimum recommended capacity in most locations.
- 54% of all counties lack testing sites.
- 38% of counties with 50,000 or more residents lack a site.
- 60% of counties with less than 10,000 residents lack a site.
- 58% of counties with testing sites do not have the capacity to reach minimum recommended testing levels.
The report notes there is a large area in the middle of Texas where 26 counties, amounting to 315,000 residents, have no access to testing.
The report concludes:
"When examined at a local level, COVID-19 testing capacity across the United States currently leaves wide swaths of the country, mostly rural, without adequate testing capacity to safely reopen their communities and economies. Due to their broad geographic distribution across urban, suburban and rural locations, retail clinics may be our best hope to lay the testing groundwork needed to safely return the nation to work. By looking across the country and understanding where testing capacity is available, retailers can use their existing infrastructure to fill gaps in COVID-19 testing where healthcare facilities and other clinics cannot."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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