Dallas County Offering Expanded Coronavirus Testing
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Starting Saturday, Dallas County is offering COVID-19 testing to anyone over 5 years old with or without symptoms.
The new testing guidelines apply at any City of Dallas and Dallas County testing site.
Two Dallas mothers, Tensia Rodriguez and Anna Enriquez, said no one in their families has any symptoms and so they wouldn't get a test.
Rodriguez said, "I would wait for symptoms. If I had any I would self quarantine or go ahead and be tested if there were severe symptoms."
Enriquez said, "I would just go by what I'm feeling, you know, the symptoms and I would just self-quarantine."
The county is encouraging those under the age of 18 to go to the Ellis Davis Field House drive-thru testing site or any walk-up site because they have nurses trained in pediatrics.
The Director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, Dr. Philip Huang said Friday the county has plenty of tests available because demand has decreased.
"A couple weeks ago, we were having people line up at 6 a.m. and there'd be long waits for these tests. But most recently, the last couple of weeks, there have actually been, you know, no lines."
He said residents are following health guidelines including hand-washing, proper social distancing, and wearing masks.
"That it is slowing down the infection rate in our community. You know, some of the early signs are showing that and I think probably one of them might be fewer people with symptoms, and consequently fewer people seeking tests."
Dr. Huang said it's important to offer the tests with wider availability, especially now that some students are preparing to returning to schools.
