Pa. to administer free covid tests in counties without health departments

Pennsylvania health officials announced Tuesday the state will begin administering free covid-19 testing in counties that do not have their own health departments.

Only six Pennsylvania counties have their own health departments, including Allegheny and Erie counties in Western Pennsylvania. Other counties are Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester and Bucks.

“Our goal is to ensure that everyone who needs a test in Pennsylvania can get one,” Gov. Tom Wolf said during a virtual news conference.

The state Department of Health will offer the free testing in counties without their own health departments by expanding its contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare.

Five teams will provide regional testing during the next 12 weeks for people in the 61 counties without county health departments. Testing teams will move to new locations each week. Location information will be posted on the health department’s website.

Testing will begin Wednesday in Bedford, Mifflin, Tioga and Northampton counties, which recently have experienced a sharp increase in covid-19 cases.

Testing in Butler County will begin Friday and continue through Dec. 8. Tests will be administered at Michelle Krill Field, 100 Pullman Park Place, Butler.

Testing sites will include drive-thru and walk-in clinics.

Tests will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointment is necessary.

People must be 3 or older to receive the nasal swab tests. They do not have to be exhibiting symptoms to be tested.

Up to 450 patients a day can be tested at each location. Turnaround times for results are expected to be two to seven days, according to health officials.

Michael Huff, director of Testing and Contact Tracing, said the new testing sites will not replace pop-up testing locations.

Huff said the state health department will continue to deploy covid-19 testing to counties based on the total number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people and in counties where outbreaks are happening. Counties of concern are those with testing positivity rates of more than 5%.

“In the event we have a serious outbreak in an area where we need special attention, those pop-up testing sites will continue,” Huff said.

The state has increased its covid-19 testing capabilities since the virus first surfaced.

Between March and May, the state administered 67,000 tests. Now it can do nearly that many in one day, Wolf said.

Since March, the health department has received nearly 6 million test results. Over the last 30 days, the average number of test results received per day was more than 50,000, Wolf said.

While testing is a critical tool to fight against the virus, Wolf said it’s important to pair that with case investigations and contact tracing, which are essential in slowing transmission and reducing the spread.

Huff said public health professionals successfully contacted 21% of people who had tested positive for the virus between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21. That included people that public health professionals were able to reach within 24 hours and 48 hours.

Huff said people who test positive for the virus need to answer the phone and talk to the health department.

“We will not be giving up on contact tracing,” Huff said. “We have done a good job of prioritizing to get the most bang out of it that we can, and it’s working for us. We will continue to refine the system. We will continue to modify anything we need to do so that we can control this disease.”