Montgomery County leaders continue to look into expanding COVID-19 testing for residents.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich says he recently met with leaders from both the Latino and African American communities to see how the county can address some disparities and bring testing deeper into communities. There have been reports of an increase in the percentage of cases within Latino communities in the county.
Overall, county Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles says demographic figure data reflects that test positivity rates continue to decrease. Gayles says this is a result of a continuous effort to increase testing opportunities across the county.
“As time has moved forward we have seen the percentage of residents tested increase, we’ve seen the number of tests offered and taken increase…we’ve seen test positivity rates for all geographic areas as well as racial and ethnic groups decrease over time as well,” said Dr. Gayles.
Both Elrich and Dr. Gayles discuss what measures are being taken to ensure all residents have access to COVID-19 testing:
Click here for more details about county testing sites- which do not require a government ID or a doctor’s order. County health officials say appointments are recommended to reduce wait times. Walk-ups are allowed.
Free #COVID19 testing is available in Wheaton today from 8 a.m. to noon. For details, visit the County's testing website: https://t.co/qloetwrHpz. pic.twitter.com/8KiQGq9tak
— Montgomery County MD (@MontgomeryCoMD) July 17, 2020
