Coronavirus: Clark County’s most recent free pop-up testing event draws significantly fewer people

Over 200 people were tested for COVID-19 at a free pop-up clinic last week hosted by the Ohio Department of Health and the Clark County Combined Health District, according to the district health commissioner.

The event took place on Sept. 18 at Life in Christ Community Church at 1100 Sunset Ave in Springfield. It was the fourth pop-up testing event the county has held — it was also the least attended, CCCHD Commissioner Charles Patterson said during a weekly Facebook live about the status of the virus in the county.

“We were prepared for 800 to 1,000 testees, which is what we had in at our last two pop-up clinic,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t as well advertised because we found out about it on short notice.”

Of the 224 tested at the event, 4.9% tested positive, Patterson said. Those who tested positive were notified by Monday.

Patterson said at this point, the county does not have plans for another pop-up testing event.

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“We may not have a large pop-up clinic. We may have more targeted clinics for certain populations around town, rather than just inviting everyone in the county to come in. So I would probably expect that more than a large pop-up."

Patterson said the state and county “seem” to be entering a downward COVID-19 trend.

“In Clark County, we seem to move to another phase of COVID-19. We are seeing some numbers across the state trending down,” Patterson said. “Not just for a couple of days but for about a week or so. We are hoping that means some good things for us in the future. We are still waiting on that to hit in Springfield.”

Despite the downward trend statewide, Patterson said the county still saw 79 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the last week, a majority of which came from long-term care facilities and Wittenberg University students.

“Seventy-nine is still way too many. Of course, we want zero cases but realistically we are more comfortable in the 45 to 50 (new cases per week) range,” Patterson said. “So we need to keep pushing to get to that point."

Clark County had 1,794 cases, 38 deaths and three probable deaths of the coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Ohio reported 148,894 total cases and 4,734 deaths of the coronavirus on Friday, according to ODH. Between Thursday and Friday, the state reported 1,150 new cases and 19 new deaths.

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Facts & Figures:

224: People tested for COVID-19 at the county’s free pop-up clinic last week

4.9%: Of the 224 tested positive for the virus

1,794: Total case of the coronavirus in Clark County

41: Total deaths of the coronavirus in Clark County

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