The Coastal Well being District plans to finish drive-thru COVID-19 testing on the Southeast Georgia Well being System hospital in Brunswick on Saturday because of the vast availability of different testing choices and low demand.
“With free PCR and fast antigen testing so available elsewhere, we will shut this website with out jeopardizing anybody’s potential to get COVID testing,” Dr. Lawton Davis, well being director of the Coastal Well being District, mentioned in an announcement.
The variety of individuals searching for checks has dropped drastically over the previous yr, peaking final in January with two consecutive weeks of over 3,000 checks, in line with well being district information.
“One time had greater than 4,000 individuals a day, however final week was 89,” mentioned well being district spokeswoman Ginger Heidel instructed The Information. “Some individuals nonetheless want a PCR check for journey or no matter, and you’ll nonetheless get that via the kiosk.”
A testing kiosk is on the market on the Glynn County Well being Division, 2747 Fourth Road in Brunswick, 24 hours a day and 7 days every week, she mentioned. Kiosk checks can return outcomes inside 48 hours, in line with the well being division.
“The kiosks dispense a check equipment that features a nasal swab and directions on gathering the specimen,” in line with the well being division’s assertion.
“As soon as the specimen is collected, it’s safely packaged again into the equipment and positioned within the kiosk. The specimens are picked up each day and despatched to an accredited lab for PCR testing.”
One other kiosk will be present in Darien on the Southeast Georgia Doctor Associates main care workplace, 1022 Miller Lane SW.
Free at-home COVID checks are additionally out there in any respect well being division workplaces. For extra data, go to covid19.gachd.org.
Saturday is the final day of a roughly year-long partnership between the Coastal Well being District and SGHS. Heidel mentioned the hospital needed to get again to utilizing the worker parking zone by which the drive-thru testing facility was situated.
In Glynn, Camden and McIntosh counties, 108 new circumstances have been reported within the week ending Wednesday, in line with the SGHS. In Glynn, 69 have been reported; in Camden, 37; and in McIntosh, two.
A complete of 55.1% of Glynn County residents have been vaccinated, whereas the quantity was 44% in Camden, per SGHS COVID information. As of Wednesday, the well being system’s Brunswick hospital had 5 inpatients contaminated with COVID whereas it is Camden campus had two.
