NUECES COUNTY, Texas — As COVID-19 cases continue rise in the Coastal Bend, more folks are seeking out COVID tests. The demand has been so great, some people said it has been difficult to get the test.
One young woman tells 3News it took her multiple calls.
"Every time you would call the minor ERs that advertise, they would say 'no, we ran out of tests for the day,' and so then we were told to try CVS or Walgreens," said Calallen resident Isabel Cruz.
Cruz tried that too, only to discover when she went online to make an appointment, those options were also fully booked.
"I think it was two weeks out it wouldn't let me make an appointment," said Cruz.
She said she finally found a minor ER that took her husband and she ended up going to the Nueces County Public Health District testing site at the old Memorial hospital.
"What I would say to people is if you test, if you buy a home test, or you have a rapid antigen test or you do the test we offer at the memorial which is the gold standard test the PCR test, that you know what you're getting," said Health Director Annette Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said early detection is important and encourages people not to give up when searching for a place to get tested.
"The testing lines are still long which tells us the Delta is still very much here and transmitting very quickly. But, yes we're buying as much supplies and chemicals for our kits that we need to continue this testing,"
Rodriguez is hoping a request to the state will help with the increase they are seeing.
"We are reaching out to the Texas Department of Emergency Management to ask them if they can kind of help like they've done in the past to do some of the testing. Because you're right we are starting to get stretched very thin," said Rodriguez.
"Today we're doing good, I have a slight cough, still lingering," said Cruz.
Cruz and her husband not only needed a test to find out if they had COVID when they first started to feel sick but also wanted to make sure they were negative before returning to work or being around family.
Cruz said they were able to buy at home test kits that gave them results in about 15 minutes.
She said the advice she would offer others who are having a difficult time getting a test is to start calling early in the morning.