AMHERST — Town Manager Paul Bockelman is a regular at the regional COVID-19 testing site at the Mullins Center on the University of Massachusetts campus.
“I go weekly,” Bockelman told the Town Council last week, giving a plug for what he sees as a quick and convenient way to learn whether he has been exposed to the novel coronavirus. “It gives you a sense of peace of mind.”
Checking in at the registration table and then using the nasal swab he is given and a tube in which to place it, Bockelman said he is back to his vehicle in less than 10 minutes, and has results of the tests in 24 to 36 hours.
“It’s incredibly well organized (and) very easy to do,” he said.
As the site for the public completes its fourth week, those overseeing it are pleased with the response from area residents.
“It’s been going extremely well,” said Jeff Hescock, executive director of the Environmental Health and Safety office at UMass.
Since opening Dec. 14, the site has handled about 8,000 community tests. “The demand has been good,” Hescock said.
Supported with a $5 million state grant and part of the state’s Stop the Spread program, the Public Health Promotion Center runs the appointment-only, walk-in site for asymptomatic individuals.
It also differs from other area testing sites, such as at Holyoke Community College, the next closest site to Hampshire County, and Eastfield Mall in Springfield, both of which are drive-through and first come, first served.
Hescock said the center does have spots open each day, with 1,200 slots available. For instance, on Monday, three-quarters of the reservations are already taken, but there is still room for more.
He explained that the half-hour blocks that are scheduled can accommodate 75 and 95 individuals at a time. “We’d like to be at 1,200 each day,” Hescock said.
The public testing site will remain open four days a week until Jan. 21 and for more limited hours through mid-March. Reservations can be made at https://uma.force.com/covidtesting/s/.
Hescock said the university hasn’t determined exactly what the site will look like when students return to campus later this month. Though the space is already divided into two, one for the public and the other for students, faculty and staff at the university, by necessity the operations will have to scale back.
The best aspect of the UMass site, which had already been doing up to 13,000 tests per week for students, faculty and staff over the fall semester, is the speed, Hescock said, both in the initial phase when a person provides a nose swab sample, and when the sample is tested.
The university uses what is known as PCR testing. After a courier brings samples from the Mullins three times a day to the Institute for Applied Life Sciences, the IALS Clinical Testing Center analyzes test results using RNA extraction/qPCR.
If a person tests negative, an email is sent once the result is known. Those with positive tests typically get a phone call and advice to see a medical provider, while all the information goes to the state’s MAVEN (Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network) system and local Board of Health.
Unlike with student, faculty and staff tests, Hescock said no contact tracing is done by the university.
Like other sites, Hescock said UMass saw an increase in demand immediately before and after the holidays. “We were busy preceding and following the holidays,” Hescock said.
While the UMass site is only for asymptomatic individuals once every seven days, Amherst established its own sessions for people showing signs of illness, with those tests in late December paid for with federal CARES Act money.
During 203 tests, 16 positive cases were discovered, said Health Director Emma Dragon.
“I felt very happy to know people were tested and we had the availability here to get this done,” Dragon said.
