MADISON, Alabama — If you need to get tested for COVID-19, you could be waiting for a while.
On Sunday, dozens of people waited in a long line at the AFC Urgent Care off of Highway 72 in West Huntsville hoping to get tested.
Urgent Care employees at the AFC location say they have been low on shipments and could only give fifty tests on Sunday. Because tests were first come, first serve, people waited outside to make sure they got a test.
Madison resident, Kyer Shelton, had to be tested on Monday because they ran out of tests before his appointment on Sunday. He said the wait was about an hour.
"Even when I got there, I had to stand outside in the rain, and it's like 30 degrees," said Shelton. "For about 20 minutes I was standing outside before I finally got under a tent to get tested. Then I had to sit in my car for 30 minutes until someone came and told me that I could just leave and they could just call me later."
Workers at the Urgent Care say they were swamped the day after Thanksgiving. On Friday, they saw around 160 people who came for a COVID-19 test. They normally see about 110 people in a day.
"While I was in line, it seemed like most people were just there to just to see if they had gotten it or not," said Shelton.
Huntsville Infectious Disease Specialist, Dr. Hafsa Siddiqui, says you should get tested for COVID-19 if you celebrated with a large crowd on Thanksgiving but to wait at least seven days.
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"If people are coming and getting themselves tested now, it's too early. They should not be doing that," said Dr. Siddiqui. "People who have been to big gatherings, they should go on Friday onwards to get themselves tested. So getting them tested on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we are not going to gain anything. We are just going to waste the resources."
Dr. Siddiqui says if you get tested earlier than seven days after exposure, the test may not can detect COVID-19 yet.
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