DAVENPORT, Iowa — COVID-19 cases are on the rise in both Scott and Rock Island counties, leading to an increased need for at-home test kits.
At the Scott County Health Department Test Iowa Kits are ordered by the hundreds weekly. Lauri Steiner is the departments clinical health services manager.
She says she has already ordered one pallet this week, and will order another before the week is over.
"We got a pallet delivered on Monday and I'll be ordering another pallet tomorrow," Steiner said.
One pallet of boxes contains 2,250 tests. It adds up to around 4,500 tests ordered every week from Test Iowa. The at-home tests are saliva based PCR tests. PCR tests are considered to be the most accurate of the various tests available.
The Test Iowa kits are taken everyday to Iowa City.
"We have a courier that comes every day around 3:30 and picks up the kits and takes them straight to the hygienic lab," Steiner said.
Steiner says the county numbers are going up, something that is discouraging to see.
"We definitely want to see them go back down to where they were in June and July," Steiner said.
The tests can be ordered to your home as well through TestIowa.com.
"You can get five kits delivered to your home, and that way you have them and you can still drop them off with us or any UPS drop box," Steiner said.
She says you typically get results within 24 hours. It's a stark difference from local pharmacy's that offer PCR tests.
According to CVS and Walgreens websites, it's about a two-day wait to get an appointment for a test in this area. From there, it's another two or so days to get results.
It's something that isn't offered in Illinois either. The Rock Island County Health Department refers individuals to local pharmacy's if they need a test. There aren't any plans to administer tests through the health department either.
"The president has said more tests will be available soon," said Rock Island County Health Department Administrator Nita Ludwig. "But we haven't heard anything from the state yet."
Both departments ultimately push the vaccine as the way to keep tests available for those who need them most.