County makes coronavirus testing more accessible for uninsured

Live Oak Health Partners is now testing Hays County residents who don’t have insurance but have been screened by the Hays County Public Health hotline and deemed necessary to be tested. Free testing is by appointment only Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Uninsured residents of Hays County who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 can call the Hays County COVID-19 hotline at 512-393-5525 to be screened for testing and be referred for a free test.

At time of article, Hays County has used an estimated 20 additional tests from the Texas Department of Health Services’ grant for 1,300 tests.

County Judge Ruben Becerra said during Tuesday's Commissioner Court meeting that he wants to create a balance of public and privately offered testing to support private practices and clinics that are testing for COVID-19 in the wake of an economic crisis that is hitting local healthcare businesses as hard as many other industries.

The court moved to amend the contract created last week with Clinical Pathology Labs (CPL) to include all COVID-19 tests that are federally support- ed and have an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, which would include serology testing.

The contract previously only listed molecular testing, which is the standard diagnostic test currently. Serology testing can be used to understand how much of a population has been infected and developed antibodies.

It is still up to medical professionals to select which tests they are using, but the amendment allows for additional options, Becerra said.

As Gov. Gregg Abbott relaxed business restrictions on May 1, the governor and the county do not require people to wear masks but it is strongly recommended. As Hays County service desks open, the county will consider additional measures, like sneeze guards, to protect their constituents and employees.

Commissioner Walt Smith aims to create a task force to inform reopening with representation from all impacted industries like hospitality, manufacturing and service industries.

In other business, Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson is working on efforts to ensure all Texans are able to vote for the upcoming July run-off election amid worries that high concentrations of people at polling locations may spread COVID-19.

As a result, the elections office is preparing for a big surge of voting by mail.

Anderson reported that many people who are at risk for a COVID-19 are already eligible for a mail in ballot. Hays County has 143,586 registered voters, 26,345 of which are age 65 and older. People older than 65 are eligible, however so far only 3,961 have applied to vote by mail.

People with disabilities are also eligible to vote by mail, and the county does not police what qualifies as a disability.

Based on the 2016 and 2018 elections, the county was projecting around 10,000 mail-in ballots, but now are anticipating as many as 25,000 if all voters over the age of 65 vote by mail.

Another concern for holding elections during a pandemic regards the safety of polling workers. Many polling workers have historically been older residents, who are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

Anderson said they are preparing safety precautions like virtual trainings, instituting hand washing every 20 minutes and providing hand sanitizer, gloves and masks. For voters’ protection, the poll workers will wipe down voting machines with alcohol wipes and other surfaces with Clorox. They are considering sneeze guards between polling machines and purchasing Q-Tips to help voters avoid touching the screens of the machines.

The ballot board, a group of representatives from all parties that meet to make determinations on unclear ballot selections, will also have to make some adjustments to accommodate an increase in mail-in ballots.

Normally meeting as a group of 20-30 people in a small area in the Elections Office, Anderson said they will be required to wear masks and gloves and they are requesting 10 additional computer processing stations to minimize papers being passed around.

Other adjustments will need to be made in preparation for November’s election which is expected to have a much higher turnout.

July 2 is the last day to apply for voting by mail for the July runoff. You can register by printing and mailing an application from the Hays County Elections website at https://hayscountytx.com/ departments/elections/.

Twitter: @StephJGates