Hundreds line up for rapid COVID-19 testing in Somerton

News 11's Adonis Albright takes a closer look at how these testing sites operate

SOMERTON Ariz. (KYMA/KECY) - The Regional Center for Border Health has been providing coronavirus testing since the onset of the pandemic in March. Months later, they're starting to see a familiar scene: car after car lining up to get tested, stretching for at least a mile.

Although the testing site doesn't open until 7 A.M., the frontline workers who administer those tests said some people get there at 5 to get tested.

Here's what it's like to experience a drive-thru testing site: you line up in your car, fill out a piece of paper, and wait your turn to get tested. Even if you don't have insurance, the test is free. The testing site offers a rapid nasal test which can produce results within 15 minutes. As long as you're in line by 3 P.M., you will get tested.

Although the lines can look intimidating, RCBH is encouraging people to get tested.

“The rapid tests that we have been administering for the last couple of months… is really great because the results are ready in as little as 15 minutes and so we are advising them to go ahead and continue to stay in line, be patient with us, we’re working as hard as we can and as fast as we can", said Alex Bejarano, the Director of Public Relations for the Regional Center for Border Health.

Bejarano said that particular site in Somerton performs on average roughly 500 tests a day, which they typically purchase from a lab. But RCBH recently ordered about 3,000 more rapid tests from Yuma County, and even that only lasts about two weeks.

As of today, Yuma County reported 112 new COVID-19 cases, and a total of 97,433 tests have been performed so far. RCBH doesn't expect the long lines to die down anytime soon with the holiday season in full swing. With a vaccine still widely unavailable, there's also a lot of uncertainty about whether the number of cases will eventually level out.