Tulsa COVID-19 Testing Sites See Steady Streams Of People

Many Covid-19 testing sites are busy this week as people look for confirmation it's safe to travel or meet family for Christmas. In response to increasing demand for testing, several new testing sites have opened, with plans to fill the need until the vaccine eliminates the pandemic.

In Owasso, ARC Diagnostics has set up a tent in a church parking lot at 116th Street North and Garnett.

"This last week everybody wants to get together and make sure they're safe, I think we've already doubled in numbers," Co-Owner Grant Morris said.

The site is one of a growing number of places where anyone can be tested and get results quickly. ARC charges $100 for a PCR test with results in 24 hours. Prices for COVID-19 test vary by provider and test type, and whether or not the patient has insurance.

Tesla Harper said her employer asked for proof of a clear test.

"My nana, she tested positive, she's in the ICU now, I saw her a couple of weeks ago, and that's why my work wanted me to get tested," said Harper.

In South Tulsa, Andra Whitworth opened a new testing site Tuesday, Mobile COVID Testing, that will offer drive up testing in the parking lot of Hillcrest South, and eventually, the option of a technician coming to a home to collect the sample. The company uses an antigen test for results in 15 minutes, and charges $200.

"Really I think it centers around the whole mobile concept. Our goal is to get these tests out in the community where they're needed and I think the mobile units are uniquely suited to do that," said Whitworth. "Our plan is to have pop up testing sites for communities that are hard hit and do a lot of testing in a day or two."

Demand for testing increased at MCI Diagnostics just before Thanksgiving, as happened at the OSU Health Sciences Center testing site. Both places were busy Tuesday.