A new data note summarizes and analyzes survey data collected by HRSA, as reported for June 12, 2020. Among the key findings:
- As half of all states reported an increase in weekly COVID-19 cases, 1,529 health center sites or about one in eight sites, were temporarily closed.
- Health center visits remained lower than average, with centers reporting average weekly visits at 70 percent of pre-COVID rates, and 39 percent of all visits were delivered via telehealth.
- Community health centers have now tested more than 1.1 million patients for COVID-19 infection over the ten weeks of reported patient testing data.
- The percentage of health center patients who tested positive for COVID-19 was 10.8 percent, in excess of the upper end of the reported CDC range, and more than two-thirds of health center patients who tested positive for
COVID-19, and 83 percent of look-alike patients who tested positive, were identified as racial or ethnic minorities.
While site closures and visit declines appear to have lessened, these data continue to reflect the toll that COVID-19 is having on health center capacity, staffing and health center operations.
The data note was authored by Jessica Sharac, Rebecca Morris, James Hernandez, Maria Velasquez, Peter Shin, Sara Rosenbaum, Feygele Jacobs.