Doctors Bring Coronavirus Testing To Underserved Communities

The United States and Italy have been playing catch up in the mitigation of the coronavirus pandemic and were resistant to implementing social distancing, while other countries took more aggressive approaches. Now both countries are looking to China and South Korea to learn how sweeping actions and industrialized scaling of measures such as fever clinics, temperature check points, portable CAT scanning, and social isolation, have helped to contain the pandemic.

After an initial sharp spike in positive COVID-19 cases, South Korea kept the number of deaths low and stopped the virus from spreading dramatically, without resorting to the same draconian isolation measures in other countries like China. To do so, the government of South Korea relied on its strong national health service, learned from prior virus outbreaks, executed an aggressive strategy of testing, and enforced social distancing and treatment protocols.

Rather than send local residents to city-run testing sites in the East Bay of California, clinics in East Oakland are now running their own testing sites to better serve their community. Although one of the sites has already tested nearly 100 people and residents who are underinsured or uninsured can be tested for free, some believe the effort should have started much sooner.

By rapidly instituting mandatory testing of all inmates at a covid-19-stricken federal prison and segregating ill inmates, authorities reduced the number of new infections within weeks. At one point, nearly 70% of the inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison in San Pedro, California, had tested positive for the coronavirus as it raced through a facility where inmates normally interact constantly in crowded communal areas. As of mid-May, eight inmates had died and more than 500 had recovered.

To allow patients to still see their doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, insurance providers have eliminated some of the barriers for providers to be reimbursed for telehealth appointments. This change in policy has helped doctors in Maine grow their telehealth practices in ways that may outlast the pandemic.

Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes share land, and despite previous disagreements, they collaborated to create one of the state's most effective coronavirus testing clinics. 3,000 people from both tribes have been tested, about 30% of all tests done in Wyoming. The two nations have also helped residents, impacted by casino closures and sharp drops in oil and gas revenues, with special hunting seasons, food supply distributions, and providing quarantine housing. More testing has meant higher cases identified, which has led some to create a narrative blaming Native people for the spread of the virus.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic limited access to health care facilities, health specialists across Africa were already beginning to turn to technology-based mental health services to offer care with fewer barriers for patients. Despite its growth in use during the pandemic, some doctors caution that it does not necessarily replace in-person consultations, but is still very useful.

The state of Wisconsin has launched a pilot initiative that aims to help farmers who are dealing with job stressors access mental health services including "a 24-hour wellness hotline, tele-counseling sessions and vouchers for in-person visits with participating mental health providers." While some of the services have proved more successful than the others, as a whole, use of the counseling services has increased, especially as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

13 Washington school districts are piloting COVID-19 testing. By doing so, they can catch stop asymptomatic people from spreading the virus, offer testing to families who might not have access, and add a “sense of security for many staff members who are nervous.” Three of the districts participating “have tested more than 4,000 people using nearly 10,000 tests.”

Milan’s tampone sospeso or “suspended test” initiative provides rapid COVID-19 tests to stop the spread of the virus. The initiative sets up in highly visible public areas of Milan and is based on a model of mutual support where everyone pays what they can. It is run with the help of over 50 volunteers and Medicina Solidale, a group of medical professionals who provide free medical advice to those who can’t afford to access care. The project has raised 24,000 euros from 436 donors, which has enabled them to administer rapid antigenic swabs to more than 3000 people.