Due to funding concerns, the Platte County Health Department will cease offering free COVID-19 testing to the bulk of the community after the first of the new year.
At the regular meeting of the health department’s board of directors on Tuesday, Dec. 15, board members heard an update from director Mary Jo Vernon and staff on the ongoing pandemic.
Vernon said the health department has yet to hear from the Platte County Commission on its request for funding through the federal CARES Act. Platte County is now the only health department in the Kansas City area to not receive CARES funding.
“Shameful — just let me say that,” said board member Paula Willmarth. “It’s totally ridiculous. I have no words to describe how I feel about what has happened to us here. It’s just shameful.”
The health department began absorbing the costs of testing in August when the University of Kansas Medical Center discontinued its own free testing program. Since, the health department has expended $70,000 in free testing, plus human resources costs. About 1,100 tests have been administered.
“It’s becoming very costly for us to do the free testing,” Vernon said.
The board voted to extend free testing through the end of the year, but unless additional funding becomes available most residents seeking tests will be charged $100 per test starting Jan. 1, 2021. Low-income families in the health department’s assistance programs will be exempt from the charge.
Vernon said during a routine meeting with her peers through the Mid-America Regional Council, most Kansas City area health departments will not be able to continue their own testing programs beyond the end of the year, and some may not be able to conduct contact tracing.
“But that is the purpose of public health,” Willmarth said.
Vernon agreed, adding that MARC is working to find private donors to assist health departments with funding for testing and contact tracing.
Health department deputy director Dan Luebbert presented an update on cases in Platte County.
“November has been a terrible month for us,” he said of the rising case counts. “The good thing is it looks like we’re on a little bit of a decline.”
That positive news came with the caveat that cases remain high among 16-25 year olds and another upward bump is expected after the Christmas holiday.
Vernon said she has heard reports of “testing fatigue,” and that more people are not getting tested, even if ill, if they don’t feel seriously ill.
The current standard of measure for cases is the 14-day rolling average of positive cases per 100,000 residents. Using this standard, 250 positive cases within any 14-day period is considered an out-of-control pandemic. In mid-November, Platte County’s case count was at 648. As of the meeting this week, numbers showed the 14-day rolling average at 545 cases.