Community Corner
'Complacency And False Sense Of Security' Reasons For Decline In Virus Testing In St. Louis Region
There's mask fatigue although so many of us have gotten used to it," he said.
April 03, 2021
Health officials are seeing a decline in COVID-19 testing on both sides of the river, and doctors say it's due to complacency, false sense of security and fatigue. Dr. Troy Dinkel, the head of Total Access Urgent Care, said at some point they tested nearly 1,700 people on a daily basis. Now testing is down by nearly 50% from that peak. He said after more than a year into the pandemic, people want to go back to normal life. "There's mask fatigue although so many of us have gotten used to it," he said. "There's just people who really wanna go on spring break. They really want life to get back to normal. They don't want to give up another baseball season. I think there's a certain amount of fatigue." Dinkel said the decline in testing has been a trend for the last three months, adding it's reflective of "complacency and a false sense of security that might be introduced by the hype of vaccines being available. St. Louis County's health director said testing doesn't lose its importance with vaccine availability, especially with the rise of new - and reportedly more dangerous - variants. "For people to take it lightly and not get tested - if they have signs and symptoms - is reckless in terms of their own health and the health and well-being of those around them," Dr. Faisal Khan said. "People who are vaccinated are protected but they can still transmit the virus to others."
Find out what's happening in St. Louisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"As of today, hardly 25%, or 1/4, of the population in the St. Louis region has been vaccinated, which means that 3/4 of us are still at risk," Khan said.
Testing isn't as limited as it once was. Now people can get a test within 15 minutes. Click here for a full list of COVID-19 testing sites in Missouri.
