NEENAH (NBC 26) — As the more-contagious and more-severe Delta variant of COVID-19 is leading to an increase of positive cases in northeast and central Wisconsin, ThedaCare is adding additional testing sites and dates to ensure access to testing.
"It's really important to get tested if you have symptoms of any kind of cold virus, upper respiratory type of symptoms," said Dr. Zach Baeseman, ThedaCare family medicine practitioner and associate medical director of primary care. "And part of the reason why is there are multiple different viruses that are out there, normal viruses as well as the Delta variant. It's really helpful for public health to be able to do contact tracing and discover who's had contact with COVID-19 whether you're vaccinated or not."
Dr. Mark Cockley, ThedaCare chief clinical officer, said the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S are among those who are unvaccinated. Currently, the vaccine rate has stalled with only 48.2 percent of all people in the Fox Cities region having received at least one dose.
"And now that we've had a fairly normal summer with normal activities that have been for the most part, unmasked, there's a lot of other respiratory bugs that are out there," Baeseman said. "Our normal regular bugs are out there and are infecting people, so you will not know whether you have a common cold such as rhinovirus, or if you have COVID. And it may not seem important because your symptoms are mild, but from a health care and population health standpoint it's critical to know which one you have so we can be aware of what's going on in our communities."
The drive-through testing is free and is available to all community members experiencing symptoms, those who believe they may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and anyone who is worried about possibly having the virus. Though appointments are not required, they are recommended; individuals can pre-register online at doineedacovid19test.comor register onsite. You do not need to be a ThedaCare patient to receive a test. Those seeking testing do not need to be a resident of the community where these testing sites are located. Individuals under 18 years old must have a parent or legal guardian present to consent. Results will be given online, or through a phone call if necessary.
"Without testing we don't really know what's going on in our communities," Baeseman said. "And so, in order to be best prepared with guidelines and advice about masking, particularly with schools, which is a hot topic this fall as we're all going to be getting back to school, hopefully in person. It's really important for us to know how much of this stuff is in our communities."
To find information about testing sites, visit thedacareCOVID19.org.
