Additional COVID-19 testing will be available on a limited basis in Owensboro starting next week and potentially continuing into the coming months, as announced by the Green River District Health Department.
GRDHD will begin by taking over the current drive-thru testing setup at Owensboro Community & Technical College next week. That site is being run by Kroger Health to administer 1,000 tests Tuesday-Thursday this week, and registration for those three days is already full.
The tents and infrastructure will remain in place next week, but the Health Department will step in to staff and administer the testing. GRDHD Director Clay Horton said they are hoping to provide up to 60 tests per day.
“Anyone can request an appointment,” Horton said. “You don’t have to show symptoms.”
The registration link is not live yet, but will be available later this week on the GRDHD website at http://healthdepartment.org/.
The Health Department is hopeful to continue testing beyond next week, though it won’t be at OCTC.
“We’re going to continue to do that on an ongoing basis, but it will probably be out of our health centers. The exact schedules and locations are yet to be determined,” Horton said. “Our goal is to do 60 a day next week. Then starting the week of May 11, we want to do up to 60 every day, but that will spread out over our seven-county region.”
That region includes Daviess, McLean, Hancock, Ohio, Henderson, Union and Webster counties.
Though 60 tests per day does not seem like much compared to the population of Daviess County and the surrounding areas, Horton said they are only providing a small portion of the test actually being administered.
“This is to augment the testing that is already existent in the county,” he said. “Owensboro Health has done a great job with their drive-thru testing. We have a number of private practitioners, urgent cares, primary care doctors and pediatricians that are providing testing.”
Tests given this week are expected to have a 48-hour turnaround time for results, but Horton is hopeful it could be even quicker. The Health Department will be using the same lab as Kroger, so he’ll have a better idea of what to expect in the coming days.
“What we see this week will be a good indication of what we can expect,” he said.
Gov. Andy Beshear first announced the partnership between the state and GRDHD during his Monday afternoon briefing.
“There’s going to be continued testing, albeit at a slightly lower capacity, in Owensboro for at least part of another week,” he said. “To those out there in Daviess County and the surrounding community, we’ve heard your needs. Your folks have stepped up, and we’re going to provide and pay for those kits and the shipping. We are going to make sure you get extra testing.”
Horton said GRDHD is thankful for the state’s help in providing additional tests.
“They’re supplying the test kits and the logistics and the personal protective equipment,” he said. “All of those things were obstacles where we couldn’t do this before, so that partnership is making this possible.”
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