Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among community members presenting for testing in Peoria, Illinois from 21 April to 15 May 2020

Abstract

Expanding easily accessible community SARS-CoV-2 screening is essential in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, we describe the findings from the initial 25 days of a SARS-CoV-2 drive-up and walk-up testing initiative was organized in Peoria, Illinois. Eighty-seven out of 4,073 individuals (2.1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 46% of these were asymptomatic at the time of testing. There were ten frontline workers without symptoms consistent with COVID-19 who tested positive, including six that did not report any known exposure to SARS-CoV-2. These results stress the importance and effectiveness of widely available community SARS-CoV-2 testing and suggest a possible benefit to screening of asymptomatic individuals at higher risk for infection.

Keywords

• sars-cov-2
• covid-19
• sars-cov-2 screening
• covid-19 testing
• covid-19 prevalence
• asymptomatic covid-19