New COVID-19 testing program for Northwest Georgia

The Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District has a new COVID-19 testing program effective Tuesday, September 1. Testing remains free. The new program features additional testing times and more easily found test sites throughout Northwest Georgia.

For information about COVID-19 testing in a specific county, including locations, days, and hours, please visit the Facebook page for that county’s health department. For information about all Northwest Health District COVID-19 test sites, please go to https://nwgapublichealth.org.

“Our goal is to increase testing in Northwest Georgia by making it more convenient for the public while better balancing demand for testing with our resources,” said Dr. Gary Voccio, health director for the ten-county Northwest Health District.

New Northwest Health District regional COVID-19 test sites, including locations, days, and hours, are:

Voccio advises that anyone who wants to get tested can get tested but recommends testing especially for anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and for close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases on their tenth day of quarantine.

Under the new program, public health will provide COVID-19 testing six days a week across the Northwest Health District. One test site will be open daily, Monday through Saturday, in each of four multi-county regions:

• Catoosa, Dade, and Walker Region
• Floyd and Chattooga Region
• Bartow and Gordon Region
• Haralson, Paulding, and Polk Region

Most test sites will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. One test site in each region will be open on Saturdays.

“You do not have to reside in a county to get tested at the site in that county,” Voccio stresses. “Anyone may get tested at any of these test sites.”

All test sites will feature convenient drive-up processing. No appointments are needed. Test sites in Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties will feature supervised self-collection.

For Labor Day weekend, the only test sites open will be:

• Saturday, September 5, Floyd County, Rome Fair Grounds, 1400 Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd., Rome, GA, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Monday, September 7, Paulding County, Paulding Meadows, 472 Paulding Meadows Dr., Dallas, GA, 8;30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Monday, September 7, Catoosa County, Ringgold United Methodist Church, 7484 Nashville, St., Ringgold, GA, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For information about COVID-19 testing in a specific county, including locations, days, and hours, please visit the Facebook page for that county’s health department. For information about all Northwest Health District COVID-19 test sites, please go to https://nwgapublichealth.org.

###

About the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District:  The Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District works to track and prevent the spread of disease; promote health, safety, and wellbeing through education and communication; and prepare for, respond to, and ensure our communities are ready to handle public health emergencies,thereby improving the quality of life for individuals and families in ten northwest Georgia counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk and Walker.  Our county health departments provide a variety of medical services; monitor area environmental safety, including restaurant inspections; and help ensure their communities are prepared for disasters.Find us on the web at www.nwgapublichealth.org. Follow us on Facebook to receive news, emergency messages, and health-and-safety information at www.facebook.com/NorthwestHealthDistrict