LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Pharmacies and clinics in Arkansas are seeing fewer and fewer people making appointments for COVID-19 tests.
"I think a lot of feelings are protected. Whether it's they got a vaccine or other people got a vaccine," pharmacist Anne Pace said.
Pace is the pharmacist and owner of Kavanaugh Pharmacy. In recent weeks, rapid COVID-19 testing has dropped off dramatically.
"We were averaging about 60 tests a day throughout the fall and into January, and now that has dropped down to about 10 tests a day," Pace said.
Those tests she is still giving are mostly coming from people who have symptoms; rarely is someone trying to see if they're asymptomatic.
"I think a lot of people have a lot of COVID fatigue and know people are getting vaccinated," Pace said.
Statewide, data shows testing is the lowest it's been since before June of last year. At its peak, Arkansas tested almost 18,000 people on December 10. On Monday, a little more than 4,000 people were tested.
"I think this is likely due to the fact that many people are not having symptoms," Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said.
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha with the Arkansas Department of Health believes this is because the spread of the virus has slowed throughout the state.
"We don't have many new cases reported each day," she said.
So, how do we know whether cases are actually going down or are people just not getting tested anymore?
"If the hospitalizations are going down, you know the cases are likely going down," Dr. Dillaha said.
And currently, 173 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.
"So that also lends support to the idea that cases really are going down," Dr. Dillaha said.
But, this does not mean it's time to let up completely.
"There still is a good amount of it around and we still have to be careful even if we are vaccinated," Pace said.