Christ Community Health Care Services is opening a drive-through COVID-19 testing site this Saturday.
The agency will offer 50 free tests to individuals with a fever over 100 degrees, shortness of breath, or a dry cough. Those seeking a test must make an appointment to receive services.
“We know that there is a great demand for COVID-19 testing and we have been testing patients as needed in our clinics; however, we realize that people who are not our patients need access to testing, so we are opening the 3rd Street parking lot to serve as a drive-through location,” said Shantelle Leatherwood, CEO of Christ Community.
The tests will be offered in the parking lot of the agency’s 3360 3rd Street location. Leatherwood said this location was selected because of the high number of elderly residents in the area, as the agency wants to “ensure the individuals with a need have access to care.”
To make an appointment, individuals should text “test2020” to 91999 and follow the prompts.
Tuesday, Women’s Healthcare Associates in Cordova opened a drive-through testing site, where 15 tests were performed in its first day of operations. Those tests cost $60.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has also released a list of public remote testing locations across the state. Currently, there are 18 remote testing sites in 11 of the state’s 95 counties. Williamson County, where 21 cases have been identified, has the most sites with testing available at five different locations. So far, no sites have been set up in Shelby County.
Alisa Haulshalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department, said Tuesday afternoon that the county and city are working with the University of Tennessee to create a pilot site to perform expedited testing locally. The goal is to open by the end of this week.
However, Haulshalter said she is unable to say how many tests will be available, “but what we can say is every day we are working toward having more tests and there’s a variety of ways people will be able to get tested in the future, but I can’t give exact numbers at this time.”
