Harrisburg, PA - Today the Department of Health announced that new COVID-19 testing sites in Clearfield, Fayette, Monroe, Somerset and Venango counties will offer free community-based testing this week through a partnership with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI).
Through the AMI partnerships, the Wolf Administration also has additional testing sites in Berks, Blair, Centre and Clinton counties.
The nine sites are part of an ongoing effort to provide access to free community-based COVID-19 testing sites which will surpass the 18-month mark this February.
Since September of 2020 because of this effort, which is just one of many across the commonwealth, over 96 sites have been utilized in the majority of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties and over 140,000 tests have been completed.
“We are thankful that this partnership has made a difference for Pennsylvanians seeking to protect themselves and their loved ones over the past year and a half. However, our work is far from over,” Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter said. “We must continue to provide testing opportunities like these and others across the commonwealth to ensure Pennsylvanians have a place to go if they’ve been exposed or are experiencing COVID symptoms regardless of their vaccination status.”
Testing resources are designed to rotate to different locations as needed.
Berks County
Testing is available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. on Saturdays through Feb. 12. The testing location is the parking lot of Direct Link Technologies, 2561 Bernville Road, Reading, PA, 19605. Note, enter the parking lot from Van Reed Road.
Blair County
Testing is available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through Feb. 11, at the Blair County Ballpark - Peoples Natural Gas Field, 1000 Park Ave., Altoona, PA 16602.
Centre County
Testing will be available through Saturday Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the County Recycling and Refuse Authority/Interpretive Center, 253 Transfer Road, Bellefonte, PA, 16823.
Clinton County
Testing will be available Tuesday to Friday through Saturday, Feb. 12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Parsons Union Building (PUB), 650 Railroad St, Lock Haven, PA, 17745.
Clearfield County
Testing will be available Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday through Saturday, Feb. 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday testing is from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tri County Church, Clearfield Campus, 321 Mill Rd, Clearfield, PA, 16830
Fayette County
Testing will be available through Saturday, Feb. 12. Monday through Friday testing from Jan. 31 until Feb. 4 is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday testing from Feb. 8 until Feb. 11 is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 12 testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The testing location is the Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport, 988 Sky Drive, Lemont Furnace, PA, 15456.
Monroe County
Testing will be available through Saturday, Feb. 5. Tuesday through Friday testing is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The testing location is the Pocono Township Emergency Building, 112 Township Drive, Tannersville, PA, 18372. Testing will also be available Tuesday, Feb. 8 through Saturday, Feb. 12. Tuesday through Friday testing is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The testing location is the Monroe Public Safety Center, 100 Gypsum Road, Stroudsburg, PA, 18360.
Somerset County
Testing will be available through Saturday, Feb. 12. Tuesday through Friday testing is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The testing location is Friedens Lutheran Church, 131 South Main Street, Friedens, PA, 15541.
Venango County
Testing will be available through Friday, Feb. 11. Tuesday through Friday testing is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday testing is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The testing location is the Venango County Training Center (Old Salvation Army Church) 737 Elk Street, Franklin, PA, 16323
In addition, Pennsylvanians can find testing sites in their area on the locator map here.
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:
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.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mark O’Neill, ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov
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