JOSEPHINE CO., Ore. — Josephine County officials are addressing community concerns that Covid-19 cases have increased because of free testing opportunities.
Both Josephine and Jackson Counties say they did have free testing for asymptomatic patients last month, however, Josephine County Public Health says out of the hundreds of people tested there were only a couple positive cases.
Currently, the county says they are certainly seeing a spike in cases.
The reason, the health department says, was Halloween.
“It’s not meeting with 20 or 30 people. It’s meeting with every person on your block, crossing people on the street, and walking in groups. It’s so much contact. We knew there was going to be an increase, this one took us a little bit by surprise though,” said Michael Weber, Josephine Co. Health director.
When it comes to getting test results, Weber says it varies by location.
He says there are some delays in the community since the demand for tests have increased.
That’s also the case in Jackson County, where health officer Dr. Jim Shames says the health department is strained.
He says sometimes the turn around to get those results is two to three days, sometimes it’s a week.
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