ODESSA, Texas — Demand for COVID-19 testing is declining across the United States, and that includes West Texas.
A clear indication of that is the closure of COVID-19 testing sites.
NewsWest 9 spoke with Phillip Urrutia, the Assistant City Manager for the City of Odessa. He said the testing site at UTPB Park was getting people in the triple digits a month ago and that is not the case this week.
"We have seen a lower demand for testing at the site at UTPB Park, which is closing on Friday," said Urrutia. "We tested about 3,700 individuals since it opened. At the peak, we were testing a couple hundred per day and right now we are in the teens for those who are getting tested."
A month ago, the positivity rates at our local hospitals were between 40 to 50 percent. According to the Midland Memorial Hospital website, the positivity rate for this week stands at 15 percent. The week of January 15 that number was at 50.7 percent.
Urrutia said the city keeps a close eye on hospital data.
"We have seen that the numbers that are reported by the local hospitals, as far as in patient census for COVID positivity, has gone down," said Urrutia. "We reference those numbers for the COVID census in our community to see if more resources are needed."
For now, city leaders continue to encourage caution among people.
"Be cautious out there, if you're sick don't go to school or don't go to work," said Urrutia. "Be vigilant of the symptoms that you may be exhibiting. There is still options like vaccines and masks that are out there for people to make a personal choice to participate."
As of Thursday, there are still people in the local hospitals hospitalized with virus. MCH reports 41 COVID patients and Midland Memorial reports 50 patients with COVID-19.