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Omicron surge spurs long lines and testing frustration across the state
"It’s four hours later, and we’re still waiting."
Massachusetts residents seeking COVID-19 tests are frustrated as the omicron variant spreads across the U.S. at the peak of winter holiday gatherings.
Media outlets across the state have recently reported on throngs of aggravated people facing hurdles on their quest for free and rapid COVID-19 tests ahead of holiday travel.
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Last week more than 1,000 tests were administered at the Center for COVID-19 Control in Needham, according to CBS Boston.
The site is one of 275 across the U.S. that offer free COVID-19 testing and don’t require an appointment. But still, the site can’t keep up with demand.
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“Thanksgiving was a rush. This is way more than that,” Needham site manager Joelle Ataya told CBS. “Our numbers are through the roof.”
Urgent care facilities in Westwood, Medford, Chestnut Hill, and Waltham offered extended hours during the Christmas holiday to test people for COVID-19, though they charged $150 for a PCR test and $85 for a rapid test. Still, flocks of irritated people languished in long lines, uncertain if they’d even see a test.
“Waiting in line, it’s been a little bit difficult because it’s been in the cold,” Rishabh Java told WCVB as he waited in line at the Westwood location. That clinic at one point displayed a handwritten sign telling people it was at capacity and to return in two hours.
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Last week, long lines appeared outside Tufts Medical Center in Boston with people saying they waited more than four hours to get a COVID-19 test — in the freezing cold.
“It’s four hours later, and we’re still waiting,” Aya Sawaya told NBC Boston, adding that she wanted the test because she planned to travel to Lebanon. “We’re going back home. It’s not like we have much of a choice. We want to see our family, we want to be safe.”
Another traveler, Omar Vega, said he was trying to get tested ahead of a holiday trip to Thailand. “Three hours in the cold, I’ve been freezing, going crazy,” he said.
Earlier this month, to help ease the burden of COVID-19 testing, the state began distributing over 2 million free rapid tests to more than a hundred cities and towns.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 10,040 new COVID-19 cases and 980,055 total confirmed cases as of Friday, with 32 newly reported deaths and 19,604 confirmed deaths. There were 1,595 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday. New data from the holiday weekend is expected by Monday evening.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that as of Dec. 20, omicron has been detected in most states and territories, and is rapidly increasing the proportion of COVID-19 cases it’s causing. The variant spreads more easily than the original COVID-19 strain, according to the CDC, though it’s not clear whether it causes more or less severe illness.
“We are in a period of explosive growth, unfortunately. The holidays couldn’t have been more poorly-timed,” Dr. Shira Doron, an epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, told WCVB.
Another Boston epidemiologist, Dr. Michael Mina, has been pushing for more accessible rapid COVID-19 tests to curb the spread of the disease. With Pfizer’s antiviral pill on the horizon, Mina says testing is crucial for the medicine to work.
“Rapid testing is a solution to an otherwise difficult problem of early detection,” said Mina.
The spike in omicron COVID-19 cases is fueling anxiety and sparking memories of the pandemic’s early days, even for those taking precautions.
“With the omicron variant and other variants coming out, I think they should go back to the indoor mask mandate so it’s just safer for everybody,” said Navin Parwani, who was waiting with his nephew at the Westwood testing site. “I know it’s inconvenient, but I think it’s safer.”
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