rant County residents were tested for the coronavirus at mass testing events hosted by Grant County Health District over the weekend, part of an effort to get a better understanding of the true prevalence of the virus in the area.

Though a Thursday event planned in Moses Lake had to be canceled due to wildfire smoke and air quality concerns, a Friday event in Moses Lake and a Saturday event in Quincy were held as scheduled. Around 270 people came to the Moses Lake event, while around 500 came to the one in Quincy, according to officials with the health district.

The tests were conducted by a team brought in by the health district, and was the same group that performed testing at Gebbers Farms in Okanogan County after a farmworker there who tested positive for coronavirus later died, said Stephanie Shopbell, environmental health manager for the health district.

“Because of our high numbers, we requested the team to come in,” Shopbell said.

This type of large-scale testing event can give health officials a clearer sense of how prevalent the virus is in the community, as opposed to typical avenues of testing that focus on symptomatic people and others more likely to be infected, which can increase the likelihood of a test coming back positive.

“We’re trying to get a better idea of disease prevalence in the community,” Shopbell said. “If a lot of people show up, it allows us to see what the virus is doing.”

Being able to test local residents who are not showing symptoms also allows local health officials to quickly identify close contacts of people infected with the virus, potentially limiting the spread, Shopbell added.

Shopbell said that the health district will likely get a better idea about what the virus is doing in Quincy. They had hoped for more participation in Moses Lake, the county’s largest city and the place of residence for the largest number of confirmed cases within Grant County. She added that health officials will be going through test results, all of which they expect to have back in the next couple of days, to determine what may be necessary going forward; however, there are currently no other testing events planned.