In an effort to boost COVID-19 safety on Cape Cod for the summer, the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force plans to expand COVID-19 testing capacity in partnership with medical facilities and Barnstable County.
State Senator Julian Cyr said that about 7 percent of year-round residents have been tested, a number that lags behind other regions of the state.
“In order to get to this ambitious goal of 20 percent, we're going to need a minimum of five thousand test kits,” he said.
He said testing is important for the summer, when the Cape's population rises.
Barnstable County, Cape Cod Healthcare, and the Barnstable Fire Department plan to launch a mobile testing unit that will visit workplaces where people may be at risk of COVID-19.
Cape Cod Healthcare is in the process of setting up a new testing site at Falmouth Hospital, and CEO Mike Lauf said the testing site at Cape Cod Community College will move to Cape Cod Hospital.
In other news from the task force, the group is offering COVID-19 safety signage on its website. Businesses can access printable signs with messages that encourage physical distancing and the wearing of masks.
Task force members said the idea is to take some of the burden off employees to remind customers what to do.
The signs take different tones, ranging from, “Go Big on Social Distancing,” to the more blunt, “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Mask, No Service.”