AUSTIN, Texas — COVID-19 testing sites across Central Texas continue to see an influx of people, which means the people working at these sites have a lot on their plate.
It takes a lot of people to make a drive-thru mass testing site run, like the swabbers and traffic controllers you can see from your car window. But there are people you don’t see who help make all of this happen.
Ashanti Pelham manages the swabbers at Austin Public Health’s testing site at the Travis County Expo Center.
“We had 120 per hour, so, by the end of the day, we should have a thousand again,” said Pelham of the number of people coming to get tested.
Pelham keeps track of all the PPE to keep the people getting tested safe.
“We have a base glove, we sanitize in between, we put on a top glove,” explained Pelham of some of the protective measures they take.
Of course, she is also concerned about her own staff getting infected.
“I watch them all the time,” said Pelham. “I have to stand up sometimes and, you know, stop what I'm doing here and say, ‘Hey, make sure that they roll up that window.’”
Although she works with a lot of the data, she said these tests are more than just numbers, these are real people being impacted.
“We have so many faces come through here, but some, they stick out more than others, especially with the babies,” said Pelham. “You know, you see those little faces and they cry and stuff. So yeah, I do think about them.”
Pelham said in order for us to get through this pandemic, we should all be thinking about each other.
“You need to mask up, you need to sanitize, you need to wash your hands,” said Pelham. “You need to be mindful of your fellow person and do those things so that you don't pass it. Whether you're vaccinated or not, you still can pass it.”
The Travis County Expo Center testing site ran by APH is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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