![]() Sites were administered by the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), ¶ which hired English- and Spanish-speaking staff members from local communities to supervise specimen collection, manage site operations, and engage with the community directly.Īfter overall COVID-19 incidence declined and transmission became increasingly localized, the number of fixed CBT sites were reduced from six to four on June 23, 2020, and a mobile testing strategy was begun. Initially, fixed CBT sites were established. No strict eligibility criteria were applied and anyone could seek testing however, the initiative attempted to give priority to disproportionately affected communities and persons with symptoms, persons who had had close contact with someone with confirmed COVID-19, or persons who had taken part in activities that put them at higher risk for COVID-19. ![]() Demographic information was collected during online or on-site registration. The CBT initiative focused specifically on Hispanic § persons, because this population had the highest daily incidence of COVID-19 of any racial/ethnic group in Chicago during May 13–Novem( 1). These areas were primarily in northwest and southwest Chicago. The City of Chicago’s CBT initiative, with direction from CDPH and the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, † located sites at community assets (e.g., schools and parks) in areas accessible to Black and Hispanic communities, and in areas with lower per-capita testing rates testing was offered at no cost to persons tested. These results demonstrate the ability of public health departments to establish community-based testing initiatives that reach communities with less access to testing in other settings and that experience disproportionately higher incidences of COVID-19.īecause of limited access to SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing in the early phase of widespread transmission in Chicago, CBT sites began operations on May 13, 2020. The cumulative percentage of positive test results at the CBT sites was higher than that at all other testing settings (11.1% versus 7.1% p<0.001). Compared with those tested in all other testing settings in Chicago, persons tested at CBT sites were more likely to live in areas that are economically marginalized (38.6% versus 32.0% p<0.001) and to be Hispanic (50.9% versus 20.7% p<0.001). During May 13–November 14, a total of 253,904 SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests were conducted at CBT sites. To assess the CBT initiative, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) compared demographic characteristics, economic marginalization, and test positivity between persons tested at CBT sites and persons tested in all other testing settings in Chicago. The initiative focused on demographic groups and geographic areas that were underrepresented in testing by clinical providers and had experienced high COVID-19 incidence, including Hispanic persons and those who have been economically marginalized. On May 13, 2020, Chicago established a free community-based testing (CBT) initiative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
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