REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - As a part of a collaborative effort, Beebe Healthcare and the Delaware Restaurant Association (DRA) held a COVID-19 drive-thru mobile testing event at Rehoboth Elementary.
The event was open to the public, but was geared towards restaurant workers, in response to the recent uptick of cases in the beach communities.
There was a large turnout at the event, with many cars lined up as early as 8 a.m. Testing began at 9 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. "Beebe has been the leader of testing not just in Sussex county, but throughout Delaware," says Dr. David Tam, Beebe Healthcare's President and CEO. 1,000 test kits were available. Within 45 minutes of the event, Dr. Tam said they had already used 300 kits. "We saw an increase in testing positivity in some of our young people here at the beach. Many of them are working in restaurants, so we are really taking a proactive approach and test as many people, as many industry workers as we could," says Carrie Leishman, DRA President. Leishman says this plan to do large scale testing events for industry workers and the public all came together in a day. "Restaurants have done an amazing job. I've had the chance the last couple days to visit restaurants here in Rehoboth, Lewes, and Dewey. Everyone is doing as good a job as they can, they are following all the guidelines," says Dr. Tam. As the focus is now on expanded testing, Beebe continues to monitor hospitalizations. "The hospitalization rate is still low. We're doing pretty well there. Our goal is to test as many people as possible, and follow them, so we can ensure that it doesn't get to a point where the number in the hospitals go up, which creates significant problems for everyone, including the local economy and the businesses," says Dr. Tam. Another testing event is to be determined, based on the testing positivity rate and number who couldn't get tested at Wednesday's event. "Our mission is to deliver care for people who work, live, and visit here in Sussex county," says Dr. Tam. Another community testing event is taking place Thursday, July 2nd, at Epworth United Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 2 pm.m