GETTYSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced that, beginning today, regional drive-through and indoor walk-in testing clinics will be held in five counties, including one in Gettysburg, Adams County.
The counties with testing sites will change weekly over the next six weeks, so that 61 counties will eventually be covered by pop-up testing sites over a 12-week period, Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a press release.
Testing sites are also opening in Carbon, McKean, Snyder, and Washington counties, Levine said.
“Over the past several weeks, we have seen a rapid increase of positive case counts reaching record-high levels, which gives us significant cause for concern,” Levine said. “In fact, every county now has a positivity-rate greater than five percent, which is alarming. In addition, 14 counties have percent positivity above 20 percent.”
From March through January 14, the department has received 8,219,496 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results, which roughly equates to 64.2 percent of the population.
From May through January 14, the department has received 921,595 antigen test results. The total number of tests combined equates to 9,141,085 -- roughly 71.4 percent of the total Pennsylvania population.
The department extended and expanded its initial contract with AMI to perform pop-up testing in counties across the state.
Counties under the initial contract, as well as the total number of patients tested, can be found here. The initial AMI testing and the extension were funded by the federal ELC Enhancing Detection grant.
Director of Testing and Contact Tracing, Michael Huff, said testing is going well at these sites.
“With the capacity to test up to 450 people per day, these sites are getting thousands of people tested during the course of the days-long site set-ups,” Huff said. “Testing is more important than ever in Pennsylvania and we will continue with a robust testing plan to keep Pennsylvanians safe and identify cases of COVID-19.”
The department believes that increased testing in the counties will assist in determining the prevalence of the virus and assist the county in moving forward.
Concerning counties, identified as those with percent positives above five percent, which is currently every county in the state, can be found on the Early Warning Monitoring Dashboard.
Each county is being monitored as the state continues to examine all available data, Levine said.
“We are grateful for our tremendous partnership with AMI and participating county entities to provide pop-up testing in five regions across the commonwealth,” Levine said. “The AMI testing sites will be open to anyone who feels they need a test. It is important that even people with no symptoms who test positive isolate to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Beginning Wednesday, drive-thru testing clinics will be held to contain the recent rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the following three counties:
- Adams
- Carbon
- Washington
McKean and Snyder counties will also begin Wednesday, January 20, but will be drive-thru and indoor walk-in clinics.
Testing will be available daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM starting Wednesday, January 20 through Sunday, January 24.
The testing site locations and addresses are:
- Adams County: Adams County Emergency Services Department of Emergency Services, 230 Greenamyer Lane, Gettysburg, PA, 17325;
- Carbon County: DCNR Beltzville State Park, 2950 Pohopocco Drive, Lehighton, PA, 18235 – just inside the Main Entrance;
- McKean County: Former St. Bernard School/Bradford Central Christian High School, 450 West Washington Street, Bradford, PA, 16701;
- Snyder County: Selinsgrove State School, 145 Meadow Circle, Selinsgrove, PA, 17870; and
- Washington County: Washington County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, 2151 North Main Street, Washington, PA, 15301.
Up to 450 patients can be tested per day. Mid-nasal passage swab PCR tests will be performed. Testing is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is completely free to all patients. Testing is also open to individuals who are not county residents.
Patients must be ages three and older and are not required to show symptoms of COVID-19 in order to be tested. No appointment is necessary. Patients are encouraged to bring a photo-ID or insurance card. Registration will also be completed on-site. The turnaround time for testing results is two to seven days after testing.
Those who are tested should self-quarantine while they await test results. Individuals who live with other people should self-quarantine in a private room and use a private bathroom if possible. Others living in the home with the individual awaiting test results should also stay at home. The department has additional instructions for individuals waiting for a COVID-19 test result. Individuals who test positive will receive a phone call from AMI while individuals who test negative will receive a secured-PDF emailed to them from AMI.
For the latest information for individuals, families, businesses and schools, visit “Responding to COVID-19” on pa.gov.
