‘Even if you don’t feel symptoms, you can still be infectious’: Testing demand is decreasing in El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — It was just weeks ago that some in El Paso were waiting hours in line at coronavirus testing sites.

An official with El Paso’s Office of Emergency Management said that more than half of coronavirus tests done in El Paso since the start of the pandemic were done in just the last eight weeks. 

While demand continues, local officials said in Monday’s City Council meeting that it is now decreasing significantly. El Paso’s Deputy City Manager said demand had declined by about a third in the past week. City and county officials reported Monday that only about 40-50% of testing capacity was being used.

Health experts nationwide are urging the public to take advantage of testing, especially if an individual has recently attended a gathering or traveled. Testing in El Paso is free and open to anyone with or without symptoms. 

“We continue to encourage the community to test if people are planning to travel,” said El Paso Health Authority Dr. Hector Ocaranza. “Please come and get tested before they go somewhere else and when they come back, so they won’t infect anybody else at their place of work or family or at their household.”

As flu season continues, health experts continue to remind the community that flu and COVID-19 can share many symptoms, making it difficult to tell them apart. Dr. Ocaranza urged the public not to ignore or dismiss any symptoms and remember that some coronavirus cases have no symptoms at all.

“These asymptomatic people can still spread the virus, so we need to make people aware,” he said. “Even if you don't feel any symptoms, even if you dismiss the symptoms as allergies or something else, you still can be infectious to someone else.”

For a list of testing sites throughout El Paso, click here.