A new mobile testing program in Utah will bring COVID-19 tests to more rural areas in Utah.
COVID-19 testing has become more accessible throughout the pandemic, but there are still some areas that are struggling with access to testing.
That’s where mobile testing comes in. Nomi Health offers no-cost rapid testing through a contract with the state of Utah. Co-founder and COO, Josh Walker, said they can deploy testing to rural areas of the state with their five vans.
"We're working with the state on making sure that we send out our mobilevans or mobile units, to stand up high throughput testing locations in other areas, sort of around the state that aren't in some of the largest cities," Walker said.
Vans can be deployed to areas within the same day. And unlike other tests that can take 24-48 hours to get results, their rapid tests offer results in 15-30 minutes.
Walker said there's value in having test results back immediately.
"We all come from a world now where we like to have things now, right?" Walker asked. "Whether that's getting something shipped from Amazon, and same thing with testing, which is really wanting to know, based on, you know, right now, do I have it or not? Do I need to self isolate? Do I need to self-quarantine?"
In November, Utah tested close to 20,000 people in one day. In December testing has slowed down a little. The state has yet to exceed more than 15,000 people tested in a day.
However despite less tests, Walker said this isn’t necessarily an issue of having enough capacity.
"But, you know, from our perspective and our engagement with the state and others now, we are not turning people away," he said. "We've seen a decrease in testing, and part of that is, I think, around the public's desire and need to come in and get tested."
He added that as a whole, all the companies that offer testing in Utah have more capacity than ever before.
And moving forward, Walker said, Nomi is looking to work with Utah to help administer vaccines throughout the state.
