With some schools scheduled to reopen next week and another COVID variant on the move, more people are driving up to mobile testing sites located in Brownsville and rural Cameron County to get tested.
Those motorists arriving at these locations are running into long testing lines with some waiting in line for at least a couple of hours if not more.
For the past week or so, long lines continue to form at a testing site located near Media Luna and Central Boulevard. On some days the lines are so long that they end up on FM 802 or Ruben Torres Sr. Boulevard and curve around. The same goes for a clinic located on Paredes Line Road, where vehicles lined up along McIntosh Road leading up to the clinic.
Brownsville resident Gabby Flores went to the mobile testing site on Browne Road in rural Cameron County Tuesday morning to get tested to see if she had COVID. Although she had already received two vaccine shots, she was starting to experience some symptoms.
“I have been experiencing symptoms over the past three days and my nephews are possibly getting sick since they got out of school and they get together, so I am just concerned…this is just for peace of mind,” Flores said as she waited in line to get tested.
Cameron County is offering PCR and Rapid Testing at its locations in Brownsville and La Feria through Thursday.
Flores said she found out Cameron County was holding a mobile testing site on Facebook. She didn’t think there would be that many people at this location since it is outside of the city limits and in kind of a remote area. “I heard the one (testing site) on Central Boulevard was really long that’s why I came over here, but it’s the same thing.” “I just want to make sure I am fine.”
Flores said her advice to people who have yet to get vaccinated is to get vaccinated, get those boosters and follow the safety protocols such as mask wearing and practicing social distancing.
An estimated 70 motorists were in line at the Browne Road testing site at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
Tom Hushen, emergency manager for Cameron County, said the county decided to open the mobile testing sites in Brownsville and La Feria to help alleviate traffic jams at other locations in the county where testings were being conducted.
“A lot of people started going to the testing sites that were out there and there was a lot of traffic, so we figured let’s help them out a bit and open up a couple over here and both ends of the county,” Hushen said. “We are just trying to do a service as best we can.”
He said he was surprised when he heard long lines were seen at both locations but added that people could go to locations such as Walgreens and other pharmacies that continue to do testing.
Rosemary Aldrete, officer coordinator for Cameron County Precinct 1 Commissioner Sofia C. Benavides, said when she arrived at work there were already at least 10 motorists waiting in line to be tested. She didn’t’ anticipate there would be so many people showing up.
Some two hours into the testing it was shut down because the medical personnel doing the actual testing and to go to another location at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Aldrete informed those waiting in line testing was done for the day but it would resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The testing site was averaging about 10 vehicles per hour.
Juan and Mayra Soto had tested positive last week for the coronavirus. They had been under medication and wanted to get tested again to see if they were COVID-19 free. They had been waiting in line for about two hours.
The couple said if they received a negative test they planned to go home to wash and disinfect everything at their home. They planned to see their daughter who they had not seen because of their testing positive for COVID. Neither had been vaccinated.
The City of Brownsville has a testing site open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at the Southmost Branch Public Library, and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays. These sites are managed by the UT School of Public Health.
Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez said while he has not yet been contacted by members of the public inquiring if testing sites will be open, he has been in contact with several medical providers and continues to maintain weekly telephone conference calls with the local hospitals to stay updated on trends and the sharing of COVID data.
Mendez said local hospitals are seeing at least triple the amount of testing and a higher positivity rate.
“Considering that we just had a Christmas holiday and many people celebrated in the form of family gatherings, we should expect this trend of increased positives to continue for the foreseeable future,” Mendez wrote in an email.
He encourages anyone who believes they have symptoms of coronavirus to contact their medical provider to get testing done.
“It is important to note that no provider that I am aware of, other than the UT School of Public Health, has the ability to determine whether the positives are due to the new Omicron strain. We should operate under the assumption that Omicron is in our community and has probably been here for a couple of weeks,” Mendez stated.
