FISHERS, Ind. — The contagious delta variant is causing a rise in COVID-19 cases and prompting more people to get tested. We've seen long lines at testing sites, including the drive-thru testing site operated by the Fishers Health Department.
Steady traffic drove through the garages at the Fishers Municipal Complex on Friday, drivers and passengers rolling down their windows for a swab of their nostrils. The Fishers Health Department added staff after lines got long the last two weeks with about 300 tests a day. That’s not close to the peak activity last winter of about 600 tests a day, but it’s way up from the low of as few as 50 a day just a month ago.
Marcy Bearden is fully vaccinated, but drove in for a COVID-19 test Friday in Fishers.
"I woke up with a sore throat a couple of days ago and lost my voice this morning and wanted to be sure,” said Bearden. "I am smart enough to know that the vaccine wasn't created to prevent infection, just control severe illness and death and hospitalization. So I know that being out and about, I still wear a mask everywhere."
The testing trend in Indiana since May 1 shows the seven-day average dropped below 9,000 tests in early July, but has now climbed back to almost 23,000 daily COVID-19 tests.
"I would attribute it to the rise in cases and contacts who've been identified as part of the delta variant being much more highly transmissible than the previous variants that we've seen,” said Fishers Public Health Director Monica Heltz. “School's back in session, so there are more opportunities to be identified as a contact."
Heltz recommends that students sent home from school on quarantine, or anyone identified as a close contact to a positive case, get tested for COVID-19 as soon as they show symptoms. If they don't have symptoms, wait until the fifth day after exposure for the most accurate testing results.
Sheila Sexton had close contact on Sunday with a young family member who later tested positive.
"I was playing Matchbox cars with him there at the table at breakfast,” said Sexton.
She's fully vaccinated, feeling fine with no symptoms. But she got tested Friday to provide peace of mind for her family, especially grandchildren who are too young for the vaccine.
"We've been maskers all along,” said Sexton. “But yeah, it is frustrating. And now you get to the point where how much longer are these vaccines going to be good?"
Anyone experiencing symptoms is recommended to get a COVID test. Several testing locations were closed in the spring as positive cases declined. But more than 600 locations around the state still offer COVID testing, including pharmacies like CVS.
You'll need an appointment and locations can be found at www.coronavirus.in.gov. Private locations will likely bill your insurance. But there should be no out-of-pocket expense for you.
CVS said COVID-19 home test kits are currently the top-selling item in their stores.