Yuma County hosts free COVID-19 saliva testing in Somerton

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - On Saturday, Yuma County held another COVID-19 testing event at Cocopah Casino in Somerton.

Originally, Yuma County could only accommodate 700 tests but due to the high demand, the county was able to get 300 more saliva tests so at least 1,000 tests were collected out there.

The process was pretty simple.

These saliva tests are developed and processed in the lab at Arizona State University.

The test requires you to spit inside a vile.

After the test is collected, you will see results within 24 to 48 hours. Some even get their results as early as 8-10 hours, according to the county.

Cocopah Indian Tribe and Cocopah Casino being a helping hand by letting Yuma County host the event in the massive parking lot.

This made it more convenient for those in South county.

Michael Fila is the emergency manager for the Cocopah Indian Tribe.

“We're out here supporting the county, making sure that the south county is covered,” Fila assured.

Yuma County's communications director, Kevin Tunell says the county is trying to expand testing efforts.

“it’s been attention from the beginning to try to get around to the whole county we were at AWC that we went to Welton. Now we're in Somerton so getting down to south county is important as well. We don't know when the next saliva testing will be but when it does come will advertise it and certainly, it will be an area probably with convenience to other people in the community, maybe further south,” Tunell explained.

The goal is to get an accurate snapshot of the county's infection rate, so it can move into a less restrictive category.

The free testing also helps people find out if they could be asymptotic… meaning you don’t have any symptoms at all and could be spreading the virus without knowing.