State College, PA - Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter will visit the state’s COVID-19 testing site in Centre County today at 1:45 p.m. to encourage people to tested when needed. Afterward, she will visit the vaccination clinic at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital.
“Testing is the best way to identify whether you are infected with the virus,” Acting Secretary Klinepeter said. “It is imperative to quarantine and isolate if you test positive for COVID-19 so that we can stop the spread of all variants of the virus. Fortunately, testing in Pennsylvania is accessible through pop up sites like the one here in Centre County, through your healthcare provider, urgent care centers and at pharmacies. If you are exposed to COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms, please get tested.”
Testing in Centre County will be available through Saturday Jan. 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the County Recycling and Refuse Authority/Interpretive Center, 253 Transfer Road, State College, PA, 16801.
“The Centre County Board of Commissioners is grateful for the ongoing COVID-19 testing resource provided by the Department of Health and AMI here in Centre County,” Board Chairman Michael Pipe said. “Testing is a critical component of our collective efforts to identify and stop the spread of this virus. Through this partnership, readily accessible and vital testing has been made available to our citizens and we are truly appreciative of this support.”
Additional public COVID-19 testing sites can be found here.
“AMI remains proud to serve the people of Pennsylvania and the Department of Health in providing these important testing services in Centre County and at other locations across the commonwealth,” AMI Program Manager Rob Kovacic said. “We encourage and welcome anyone seeking a COVID-19 PCR test to come to one of our testing sites.”
The testing sites are open to anyone who feels they need a test. It is important that even people with no symptoms who have tested positive isolate to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Up to 450 people can be tested per day at most AMI testing sites. Mid-nasal passage swab PCR tests will be performed. Testing is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is free. No appointment is necessary. Testing is open to individuals from any county who are ages 3 and older. Individuals do not need to be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 to be tested.
Patients are encouraged to bring a photo-ID, but ID is not required to be tested. Registration will also be completed on-site.
Individuals who are tested should self-quarantine while they await their 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 from AMI.
The Wolf Administration has also taken an active role in increasing testing capacity throughout the commonwealth. These efforts include:
- Supporting free COVID-19 testing sites in Berks, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clinton, Crawford, Greene, Mifflin and Pike counties.
- Ensuring in-person learning continues by offering K-12 school districts and school-age families free weekly COVID-19 services at no cost to participating schools through the Departments of Health and Education, in partnership with Concentric by Gingko Bioworks.
- Educating counties, municipalities, and health systems about the federal reimbursement available to them for eligible COVID-related expenses including activities such as setting up their own community-based testing sites.
- Meeting with manufacturers to offer incentives to increase production of COVID-19 tests to meet the growing demand from the private sector to require the public to produce negative COVID-19 tests for travel, public events, dining, and more.
To find a COVID-19 testing location near you visit health.pa.gov.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mark O'Neill - RA-DHpressoffice@pa.gov
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