Drive-through COVID-19 testing took place yesterday outside Bedford Middle School. The line of cars sparked rumors throughout town.
This morning, I spoke with Westport Weston Health District director Mark Cooper. He explained what happened.
Initial testing was done last week, the day after the WWHD learned of a party the prior weekend. The protocol followed any infectious disease outbreak — virus, food-borne illness, sexually transmitted disease — the WWHD becomes aware of. It includes both testing (to confirm a disease) and contact tracing (to notify anyone who might have been exposed).
“Over the next few days, we found that substantially more people had been at that party,” Cooper says. “And they went to other functions afterward.” The initial 40 people “quickly blossomed. Those numbers overwhelmed our ability to do contact tracing.”
Meanwhile, anxious Westporters kept calling the WWHD office on Bayberry Lane.
Yesterday’s tests at Bedford represented “the final efforts of the first part of our investigation.” The WWHD tested 72 people, though more had been notified of the testing.
Cooper surmises that some did not show up for testing because they had been tested elsewhere, while others may not have felt sick.
The tests were overnighted to a lab. Results will be available in 3 to 5 days.
In any infectious disease outbreak, the health district not only traces the illness; it monitors those who are infected. That includes daily calls by nurses to check on patients’ temperature.
The WWHD has brought in extra nurses to do that monitoring. There is, Cooper notes, a nurse shortage throughout the area.
“I know the community needs and wants more testing,” Cooper says. “We are talking with a private company about testing for symptomatic people, over the next 3 Tuesdays.”
When plans are finalized, he will announce the times, locations and more details.
Westport Weston Health District director Mark Cooper (right), with 1st Selectman Jim Marpe.