LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -You may have seen them at Gateway Mall or in videos shared on social media. Long lines are popping up statewide at Nomi Health COVID testing sites, and health experts said the trend will likely continue through the new year.
Nomi Health does free COVID-19 testing statewide. It said the demand for testing has soared around the holidays, even surpassing the demand it saw leading up to Thanksgiving.
Nomi Health’s Lincoln location was at Gateway Mall on Monday. Lines quite literally stretched out into the main roads. The demand had surged from a low of 588 on Dec. 21 to a high of almost 1,000 on Dec. 23 at its Lincoln location.
“Certainly expect this week to continue to be very high demand and with the Omicron Variant being so much more contagious we do expect to be doing high-volume testing into January,” said June Steely, Medical Director Nomi Health.
Nomi said preregistering is the best bet you can have to get that test. Calls to pharmacies around town, like Walgreens and Hy-vee, show that the COVID test schedule is also difficult and should probably be done days in advance.
Nomi Health recently started to offer flu testing at its locations as well. They said those have recently ticked up too, as many people are getting COVID tested will do a flu test as well to rule out all possibilities.
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