Lines of people wait for at-home COVID tests

Woodford County Health Department gave out free at-home COVID tests Thursday.

VERSAILLES, Ky. (WTVQ) – With the Omicron variant leading to a surge in COVID cases, the need for COVID tests is ramping up. Some local health departments are helping this need by giving out COVID tests to do at home.

In Woodford County, cars began lining up over an hour before the health department was scheduled to start handing out free at-home COVID tests. For one mom, getting these tests is just one more way to keep her kids safe at school.

“I’m glad I got here early,” says Clarinda Sheffler after picking up tests for her family. “I have children in public school and whether it’s seasonal allergies or a cold or whatever it might be, we really don’t know until we make the effort to get a test.”

When the health department arrived, it only had 350 tests to give out and in only about 30 minutes that supply had dropped to around 70.

“I’ve worked hard the past roughly two years to keep myself and my family safe and I appreciate the community doing the same,” says Barrett Schoeck, environmental health director at the Woodford County Health Department.

The Woodford County Health Department says lines like this are typical when tests are being handed out. Schoeck says it’s both a relief to see people getting tests, but also a worry as people usually get them when they’re feeling sick. According to the Woodford County Health Department, shipments are only coming in to them with about 300 tests but it’s giving those back to the community every chance it can.

“Hopefully more tests are down the pipeline and they’re short supply but as we get them in, we try to get them out as fast as possible,” says Schoeck.

The Woodford County Health Department encourages people who test positive with an at-home test to follow-up with a PCR test as soon as possible afterwards. If you do test positive, you should report that information to your local health department, regardless of where you live so the state can keep track of cases.

“Just thinking of other people, I think that’s what we have to keep in mind right now,” says Sheffler.