Health Officials Recommend COVID-19 Testing Before Holiday Gatherings

Families are about to gather for the holidays, and doctors are recommending getting a COVID-19 test before meeting up with family.

Unfortunately, Michigan is leading the nation in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The delta variant has been wreaking havoc across the state and soon the omicron variant will be our next problem.

With families gathering indoors for the holidays and sometimes consisting of three generations of people, it's important to get tested to make sure you are safe to be around higher-risk family members.

According to FOX 17, the Center for COVID Control is putting up test sites all around West Michigan that offer free rapid tests as well as PCR tests.

I had personally been thinking of getting tested because I have been out Christmas shopping and soon will be with my parents and my brother-in-law's parents who are in the high-risk age bracket. I do know I will be setting up an appointment so I can get a lab test versus a rapid test because they are more effective.

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The good news is, I'm not alone in this way of thinking. The traffic at test centers all across West Michigan has increased when leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday and continues to rise as we approach Christmas and New Year's Eve.

FOX 17 reported, Bronson Healthcare's Director of Infection Prevention and Epidemiology Dr. Richard Van Enk said, "I think testing can be very valuable in certain situations." 

If you do use an at-home test that has two in a pack, it is best to use them both because combined they can be more effective.

Here is a link to some testing facilities in West Michigan.