COVID-19 testing sites seeing long lines, long wait times - Live 5 News WCSC

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Long lines and wait times are plaguing COVID-19 testing sites throughout the Lowcountry. People hoping to get tested said they are seeing lines wrapped around the building and through parking lots and are facing hours-long wait times.

People waiting at Doctors Care in Summerville said they had to wait in line down the sidewalk to sign in, and then they were still waiting hours in their car before they could go inside and actually get tested.

Carolyn Hippenstiel was waiting in the parking lot there Monday.

She said they had been waiting for hours in the heat, and her husband can’t go back to work until they get that negative test. She said she was not sure if he would even be able to get tested Monday.

“Well we’ve been out her for about three hours and we still got a two hour wait,” she said. “They’re going to text us when they’re ready for us to get a COVID test, and we don’t really even know if he’ll get one because he doesn’t have insurance. So who knows.”

As she sat in her car in the shade, Hippenstiel said they felt like sitting ducks.

“If we can’t get [a test], then we’re pretty much ‘no working ducks,’ and that’s even worse because you don’t get paid,” she said.

We reached out to multiple officials with Doctors Care about the numbers of patients they’re seeing and any changes they have planned to tackle the demand and reduce the lines and wait time, but at the time of publication, we had not heard back.

Other healthcare providers said they are seeing a spike in demand, too.

Officials with MUSC said they have expanded testing hours at their downtown and North Charleston locations last week to keep up with demand, but they said those same employees involved with testing are also involved in distributing vaccines and their day jobs. According to MUSC, they are scaling up testing as quickly as they can, but because staffing remains an issue, they are asking for patience.

DHEC officials said they, too, have seen an increase in demand for COVID testing and longer wait times at the testing sites themselves. However, officials told us the turnaround on test results has not been affected much. According to DHEC, you should still typically get your results in about 24-48 hours.

Officials with DHEC said there have been hundreds of thousands more COVID tests conducted so far in August compared to July.

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