TEXAS TOWNSHIP, PA — Wayne County residents and their neighbors in the surrounding region had access to free COVID-19 testing last week. Cut short by inclement weather, around 100 people a day took advantage throughout the first few days of the clinic.

In December 2020, with COVID-19 numbers climbing higher and higher, the PA Department of Health (DOH) expanded a contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to provide these free pop-up testing clinics, eventually to 61 of the commonwealth’s 67 counties.

Now around two months later, the rate of COVID-19 remains high in Pennsylvania, though the DOH’s Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, last updated January 29, shows some marginal improvement. 

Wayne County reported 105 new cases in the most recent seven-day period, 36 fewer than the week before. And its positivity rate dropped from 11.3 percent to 9.7 percent—giving the county a “moderate” community transmission ranking for the first time in weeks, rather than the highest ranking of “substantial.”

As the country approaches one full year of quarantining and social distancing, people are anxiously awaiting their turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The health system in Wayne County has gotten through vaccinating its 1a category relatively swiftly but has been delayed in vaccinating members of the 1b group due to a lack of supply from the state, according to Dr. James Cruse, medical director of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers. State leaders report the same issue waiting for more dosages from the federal government.

“We have received about 1.5 million vaccines, and since it’s a two-shot cycle, that means we have enough for basically about 750,000 Pennsylvanians,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a press conference January 26. “There are over four million in the 1a category; that means we need eight million vaccines.”

Wayne Memorial Hospital is continuing its COVID-19 testing at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 12 noon. Tests through the hospital require a prescription.