MVFD rapid COVID testing sees light turnout

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Given the huge demand on COVID testing shown across Clark County last week, the local testing event that took place at the Logandale Fairgrounds parking lot on the mornings of Jan. 17-18 was somewhat under-whelming.

Volunteers from the Moapa Valley Fire District (MVFD) were stationed on site, beginning at 8 am, with supplies of BinaxNOW COVID-19 antigen tests that had been supplied by the Southern Nevada Health District.

The MVFD volunteers were poised and ready to administer free tests to as many as 500 people. The only requirement they asked was that people show proof of residency in Moapa Valley.

It was a drive-thru affair. On the southern end of the parking lot, volunteers were stationed to administer the tests. Then participants were asked to drive to another station on the north end of the parking lot to have the test results read.

Everything was set to work like clockwork. But there just wasn’t much traffic in the area on those days. By the end of the event on Monday, the crew had administered a total of about 40 tests at the site. Tuesday morning went better with a total of 73 tests administered that day.

Moapa Valley Fire District Assistant Chief Adam Smith cited a number of possible factors for the lackluster turnout including the holiday weekend, the CCSD 5-day pause, and the fact that there just hadn’t been a lot of time to get the word out to the community.

“But I also think that we may be just a little behind the curve on the timing,” Smith said. “It seems like the big demand was last week and that has kind of subsided already all across the region.”

A second testing event was scheduled to take place on Tuesday morning as well.

In addition, the MVFD is working to get a mobile testing van to start making stops in Moapa Valley two days a week beginning later on this month. The van will be administering the full PCR tests for COVID. More details will become available in the coming days.

Finally, every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-⁠19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days. The tests can be ordered at https://www.covidtests.gov/