Town of Wake Forest issued the following announcement on Aug. 14.
Beginning Aug. 16, all five testing sites will run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday
With demand for COVID-19 testing more than doubling, community spread of the virus increasing and positivity rates climbing more than 80% in the past two weeks, Wake County Public Health will be expanding its free drive-thru testing program beginning Monday, Aug. 16.
Starting next week, all five drive-thru testing locations throughout the county will run Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is no cost, no ID required and no appointment necessary. All sites use self-administered PCR tests which are painless and require people to swab just inside their nose. Results should come back within 12-24 hours.
“Testing is a great way to help curb the spread of COVID-19, but an even better tool to end this pandemic is vaccination,” said Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Matt Calabria. “At four of these five testing locations, there are free vaccines available just steps away, so we hope everyone who is tested returns after their results or quarantine and gets a shot.”
The following parking lots will offer testing 12 hours a day, six days a week starting Monday:
- Wake County Human Services-Swinburne
2845 Kidd Road, Raleigh
- Wake County Northern Regional Center
350 E. Holding Avenue, Wake Forest
- Vision RDU Church
5808 Departure Drive, Raleigh
- Wake County Southern Regional Center
130 N. Judd Parkway, Fuquay-Varina
- Wake County Eastern Regional Center
1002 Dogwood Drive, Zebulon
Free at-home testing kits are also available thanks to a program from the NC Department of Health and Human Services. Tests can be ordered online, arrive the next day and can be shipped to the lab in a postage-paid envelope, with results coming back in 1-2 days.
How do we test? Several tents are set up in the parking lots at each location. Staff will hand out free test kits to drivers or others in the vehicles. To register the test, users hover a cell phone camera over the code on the kit, which links to a website. Users enter basic contact information so test results can be sent directly via text or email. The self-administered test involves taking a swab, circling it around in the lower part of each nostril several times and then placing the swab into a small vial. The vial is placed in a zipped bag and handed back to staff on site.
When should you test? Testing is available for everyone and especially recommended for anyone, regardless of vaccination status, who has COVID-19 symptoms. Symptoms include sore throat, congestion, runny nose, cough, shortness of breath or nausea. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection also advise that vaccinated people be tested if they come into contact with someone with COVID-19, even if they have no symptoms.
For more information, go to wakegov.com/testing.
You can find additional testing locations at Test Site Finder on the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services website.
Original source can be found here.
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