COVID-19 testing center sees slow numbers

WAXAHACHIE – It was a beautiful day – and there were no lines at the Ellis County Mobile Testing site Monday.

With a sheriff’s department officer at the site as well as four men in military attire wearing masks, the security staff much outweighed the people who were there to test for COVID-19.

Monday’s testing site was the Waxahachie Sports Complex.

Tuesday, the site was moved to the Waxahachie Civic Center due to possible inclement weather.

Testing was all day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ellis County Commissioner Paul Perry, who was at the testing site, commented he thought the testing was good since it would put some people’s minds at ease if they were sick and thought they might have the coronavirus.

In coordination with the State of Texas, all the tests were administered by appointment only, due to limited testing units.

Eligible residents with COVID-19 symptoms such as fever and/or chills, cough (dry or productive), fatigue, body aches/muscle or joint pain or shortness of breath, sore throat, headache, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, nasal congestion or loss of taste or smell were asked to drive to the testing location upon the time of the scheduled appointment. They were told they would be notified by phone of the results later.

Ellis County has not seen the drastic COVID-19 numbers like its Dallas County neighbor.

However, the population is quite different.

As of Tuesday at 1 p.m., Ellis County had reported 11 deaths, 233 cases overall with 160 recoveries.