WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – With Thanksgiving just days away, the rush is on for a lot of folks to get tested for COVID and receive booster doses before traveling to spend the holiday with family.
Dr. Phillip Levy is an emergency medicine professor at Wayne State University and a chief innovation officer for Wayne Health.
“You don’t want to show up, you know, to Thanksgiving with your mashed potatoes and your COVID. Let’s just bring the mashed potatoes,” Levy said.
In order to do that, some people are being proactive. It’s creating quite the rush at locally owned pharmacies like Ray’s Drugs in Livonia.
“We have a lot of people here telling us that they’re not able to get into some of the chains or some of the urgent cares aren’t able to see them for, you know, weeks, maybe even not until next month,” Nicole Rivera, a pharmacist at the drug and medical supply store, said.
She said they are getting people in the same day they call and even taking walk-ins when possible because they know timing is everything especially for testing.
“The turnaround on the PCR is one to two business days, but with the upswing there could be a delay in that, up to maybe 72 hours. So we definitely don’t want to wait. Get in as soon as you can,” Rivera said.
Levy said they are seeing similar increases at their mobile clinics across Detroit and Southeast Michigan. He said combine the holiday season with Michigan being in its fourth wave and leading the country with the most COVID cases, now is the time to be more vigilant.
“It’s really important to get tested if you are going to travel, even if the place you’re going doesn’t have a testing requirement,” Levy said.
He said being vigilant also includes not assuming you have the common cold or flu when you have symptoms similar to COVID symptoms.
“Yes, it’s hard to be alone on the holidays. People can bring you leftover turkey and stuffing and all of that, but don’t bring your sickness to other,” Levy said.
Wayne Health’s mobile units will be at several locations leading up to Thanksgiving. Take a look at the calendar here. You don’t need an appointment.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage