Yeadon, PA - Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter today encouraged Pennsylvanians to take advantage of a recently opened COVID-19 testing site in Yeadon during a visit to the Delaware County site. The Department of Health is operating multiple free COVID-19 public testing sites across the state in partnership with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI).
“The Department of Health continues making COVID-19 testing accessible, available, and flexible for Pennsylvanians at hundreds of locations – and this public testing site is just another example of that,” Acting Secretary of Health Klinepeter said while visiting the Delaware County testing site this afternoon. “We encourage anyone who feels they need or want a test, especially if they think they have been exposed to COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms, to take advantage of the free COVID-19 testing closest to them. This includes fully vaccinated individuals who are experiencing symptoms.”
The Department of Health is also applying to participate in Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT), a program from the US Department of Health and Human Services designed to increase access to COVID-19 testing. Specifically, the department would apply to set up testing sites in southeastern and southcentral Pennsylvania.
In addition to the Delaware County testing site, the Department of Health has been hosting testing sites, particularly in rural communities, to augment support health system and retail testing sites, through a partnership with AMI.
The AMI mobile testing resources are designed to rotate to different locations as needed. Counties in need of a COVID-19 testing site should contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health to discuss the possibility of setting up a pop-up testing site.
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.
In addition to these free public testing sites, Pennsylvanians can also find testing opportunities across the more than 960 testing sites on the Department of Health’s testing map.
“If you know someone who is not fully vaccinated and boosted, please urge them to do their part to help end this pandemic,” Acting Secretary of Health Klinepeter said. “We are all in this together and it’s going to take action from all of us to get out of it.”
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.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mark O'Neill - RA-DHpressoffice@pa.gov
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