Polk County Health Department offering free drive-up COVID-19 testing

Polk County Health Department offering free drive-up COVID-19 testing

May 21st, 2020 – 3:00 PM

Georgia Department of Health –

CEDARTOWN, GA: Free COVID-19 testing is available to all Georgians who request it, whether they have symptoms or not. The Polk Health Department, 125 East Ware Street, Cedartown, is offering free drive-up COVID-19 testing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.

Anyone wanting to be tested should go to the health department, remain in their vehicle, call 770-749-2270, and say they want to be tested for COVID-19. A nurse will come to the vehicle, obtain contact information for follow-up, and collect the specimen needed for testing. Test results will be reported just as soon as available.

   “We encourage everyone to get tested for COVID-19 infection to determine who is currently ill and contagious,” says Dr. Gary Voccio, health director for the Georgia Department of Public Health Northwest Health District.  “This helps us identify people who might transmit the virus. We can then isolate them to prevent transmission, ensure they’re cared for, identify and interview their close contacts, and quarantine and monitor these individuals as necessary to slow the spread of the virus.”

The Northwest Health District is now conducting free COVID-19 testing at health departments or other sites in Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk, and Walker counties.

For the locations of all Georgia COVID-19 testing sites, please visit https://dph.georgia.gov/locations/covid-19-testing-site. For contact information for these sites, go to https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-testingdirect-patient-lines.