T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK A drive-through COVID-19 testing tent is set up at East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry to meet the demand following the holidays. Testing will continue as long as demand for it lasts.

MARTINS FERRY — Officials are seeing increased demand for COVID-19 testing following the holidays.

Many are giving away test kits as soon as they are received, while other health providers are offering on-site testing with a quick turnaround.

At East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry, a tent is set up in the parking lot for drive-through testing. Administrator Bernie Albertini said the hospital is responding to a need.

“It’ll be going on from now until the need stops. We’ll do it every day, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday is 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and we don’t do it on Sunday,” Albertini said. “Given the numbers we’re seeing, we’re not going to stop anytime soon. It’s important for the community.

“I think there’s no question we’re seeing the result of the holiday,” he said, adding he hopes the demand dies down over time.

Tests are free to patients, but the hospital does bill people’s insurance for the test when coverage exists.

“Monday and Tuesday this week we’ve done almost 600 for two days,” he said, noting that Tuesday was only half over at that point.

Albertini added that people can expect results within 24 hours. And he said the virus is being found when tests are conducted.

“It’s definitely here. It’s definitely running rampant. A lot of people want to get tested. The positivity rate at this point is probably 25 percent … that’s a rough number,” he said, adding there are very few inaccurate results. “It’s a good, solid test. … It’s through our lab here at the hospital. It’s a fully functional lab. … We’ve got a pretty robust lab at the hospital.”

Albertini did not know if many positive cases are the omicron variant.

Several people waiting in line shared what brought them to the site.

“I have a sinus infection. I’ve had all the shots, my booster, but I can’t see my doctor without a test,” George Smith of Harrisville said, adding that he encountered no new contacts during the holidays. “The only people we was with was my family, and they’re around here. We didn’t have anybody out of the ordinary at all.”

Another worried about potential exposure.

“My nephew got it, so I came down to see if I got it or not,” Daryl Ruckman of Glen Robins, West Virginia, said. “I’m vaccinated. I got the booster, I got everything, I just don’t want to get sick again.”

Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul said demand for test kits is high.

“We received 588 kits (Monday) and we gave the last one out (Tuesday) morning, and we don’t know when we’ll be receiving more. We’ve contacted the state, but everybody is requesting kits, so basically they’re going to do an allotment. So they will send us as many as they can, when they can,” Sproul said. “We are in a waiting game right now.”

He added that case numbers continue to go up, with 801 active cases as of Monday.

“Our numbers keep increasing,” Sproul said. “We had 34 (Tuesday) morning. There was a bunch more that came in this afternoon.”

Sproul again recommends that the public exercise caution, particularly those with underlying conditions and those who are around people with underlying conditions.

The demand for test kits is quickly outstripping the ability of local outlets to provide. At the Belmont County District Library in Martins Ferry, librarians reported they have received no kits since last week and are referring people to EORH.

“People were calling constantly,” Anessa Keifer, children’s librarian, said. “It was a very popular thing. … We’re not sure when we’re going to get more in.”

The situation is similar in other parts of the region.

“We’re getting 50-60 calls a day for them. We ran out as soon as we got them,” Preston Tedrick, information services supervisor at the St. Clairsville Public Library, said, adding that the library received 750 kits Dec. 27. “Within three days we gave out all of our stock, and that’s pretty common in the area we’ve heard. … We’ve ordered more, so we’re just waiting for the state to fulfill our next request for them. They haven’t given us any days when those might come in. …

“With the federal government ordering the large supply that they did, it’s difficult for the states to get them in like they were doing before, so I don’t think there’s any stocks for the states actually purchased, so I think we’re waiting for them to be made and shipped to the states and redistributed to us.”

The Bellaire Public Library is also out of test kits.

On the other side of the Ohio River, Wheeling Hospital is not conducting tests. But, according to the hospital, the Ohio County Health Department is testing people at the turnaround at the former site of Ohio Valley Medical Center from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Wheeling Health Right at 61 29th St. is providing testing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; MedExpress Urgent Care in Wheeling is offering testing from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 620 National Road; and Reynolds Rapid Care in Benwood if testing from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday at 108 Eoff St.