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Reproducibility and implementation of a rapid, community-based COVID-19 "test and respond" model in low-income, majority-Latino communities in Northern California

Chamie, G., Prado, P., Oviedo, Y., Vizcaíno, T., Arechiga, C., Marson, K., Carrera, O., Alvarado, M. J., Corchado, C. G., Gomez, M., Mochel, M., de Leon, I., Garibay, K. K., Durazo, A., Young, M.-E. D. T., Yen, I. H., Sauceda, J., Rojas, S., DeRisi, J., … Marquez, C. (2022). Reproducibility and implementation of a rapid, community-based COVID-19 "test and respond" model in low-income, majority-Latino communities in Northern California. PLos One, 17(10).
Publisher's Version

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate implementation of a community-engaged approach to scale up COVID-19 mass testing in low-income, majority-Latino communities.

Methods: In January 2021, we formed a community-academic "Latino COVID-19 Collaborative" with residents, leaders, and community-based organizations (CBOs) from majority-Latinx, low-income communities in three California counties (Marin/Merced/San Francisco). The collaborative met monthly to discuss barriers/facilitators for COVID-19 testing, and plan mass testing events informed by San Francisco's Unidos en Salud "test and respond" model, offering community-based COVID-19 testing and post-test support in two US-census tracts: Canal (Marin) and Planada (Merced). We evaluated implementation using the RE-AIM framework. To further assess testing barriers, we surveyed a random sample of residents who did not attend the events.

Results: Fifty-five residents and CBO staff participated in the Latino collaborative. Leading facilitators identified to increase testing were extended hours of community-based testing and financial support during isolation. In March-April 2021, 1,217 people attended mass-testing events over 13 days: COVID-19 positivity was 3% and 1% in Canal and Planada, respectively. The RE-AIM evaluation found: census tract testing coverage of 4.2% and 6.3%, respectively; 90% of event attendees were Latino, 89% had household income <$50,000/year, and 44% first-time testers (reach), effectiveness in diagnosing symptomatic cases early (median isolation time: 7 days) and asymptomatic COVID-19 (41% at diagnosis), high adoption by CBOs in both counties, implementation of rapid testing (median: 17.5 minutes) and disclosure, and post-event maintenance of community-based testing. Among 265 non-attendees surveyed, 114 (43%) reported they were aware of the event: reasons for non-attendance among the 114 were insufficient time (32%), inability to leave work (24%), and perceptions that testing was unnecessary post-vaccination (24%) or when asymptomatic (25%).

Conclusion: Community-engaged mass "test and respond" events offer a reproducible approach to rapidly increase COVID-19 testing access in low-income, Latinx communities.

Last updated on 12/05/2022