Retailer CVS announced plans last week to double its COVID-19 drive-through test sites at locations across the U.S., including in two Mountain West states.
The company says it expects 2,000 additional sites to be up and running by mid-October, with self-swab test results available within two to three days. The move is in part intended to expand access in vulnerable communities.
CVS Health says it oversees the largest number of independently run COVID-19 test sites in the country. According to a , the company administered three million tests since March.
New Mexico and Nevada are part of the testing expansion in our region.
Dr. Brian Labus, who specializes in epidemiological surveillance at the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, says he鈥檚 encouraged by the news.
鈥淎ny increase in testing is welcome in Southern Nevada, or I would say the rest of the country,鈥� he said.
CVS says 43 new test sites will be up and running in Nevada, a majority in and around Las Vegas.
Labus thinks the CVS test site locations might help reach a broader demographic.
鈥淭his will put testing in the communities where people live right now, so it should make access easier for people that have had challenges in the past,鈥� he said.
Data from John Hopkins University shows overall testing numbers trending down in and .
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