Judge of Dallas County releases COVID-19 test criteria, encourages more people to test
Despite some concerns about accuracy and turnaround time on a free test site, Dallas Judge Clay Jenkins still wants people to use it.
DALLAS – Despite some concerns about accuracy and turnaround time on a free test site, Dallas Judge Clay Jenkins still wants people to use it.
The judge lost the criteria for a test at Eastfield College in Mesquite and said the site had not reached capacity in days.
The judge of Dallas County encourages teachers to return to class to test – even if they do not show symptoms.
The judge says testing is down 40 percent at Dallas County sites, and the tests are available and should be used, especially by essential workers.
“I hope people who return to a group setting will use them to test,” Judge Jenkins said. “If all you do is test people who are sick like a dog, then you will miss people who are asymptomatic.”
Their days of hour-long queues at public test sites seem to be over. But what continues for some is the long wait for test results.
Father and son, Cliff and Chris Cozby, say they have checked several times on the Eastfield College site dating back to August 4th. Still no results.
“We can’t work or anywhere,” Cliff said. “We sit at home until we hear something”
READ MORE: Mesquite father, son said public COVID-19 test site slow to deliver results
FOX 4 asked the judge about incidents like that on Thursday during his press conference. He calls it unacceptable.
According to the county, most people got test results back in three days time.
Judge Jenkins says they are conducting another test to measure turnover. He says the problem lies with the sites run by private contractors, hired by the city and province with federal CARES Act funding.
Despite the problems, the judge is aiming to persuade more people to test to better identify the spread.
“We need to test more. We all know we need more testing, ”he said.
Dallas Mayor Dallas Johnson has already started a review with one of the contractors, Honu Management Group, because of the same problem for turning test results.
