Community COVID-19 low-barrier testing expands during week of August 24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 21, 2020

Media Contact: Amy Cloud, Public Information Officer

Phone: (360) 318 - 4356

E-mail address: WUC_JIC@co.whatcom.wa.us

Community COVID-19 low-barrier testing expands during week of August 24

The Whatcom County Health Department (WCHD) plan for mobile, community-wide low-barrier testing for COVID-19, developed in partnership with Whatcom Unified Command (WUC) will launch the week of August 24. The Bellingham-based testing trial that began August 10 has been successful, and the number of testing sites will expand to include COVID-19 testing in every school district in the county. The community testing program will expand to the following sites throughout the county next week:

picture of a table showing the mobile testing program schedule

Testing is available by appointment only. Appointments can be scheduled online at www.TestDirectly.com/whatcom. If there are problems with scheduling on-line; or if you do not have an e-mail; or if you need to schedule several family/household members under a single e-mail, please call the Testing Access Scheduling Line at (360) 778-6075 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily for assistance. Appointments for the following week will open each Saturday.

Anyone can get tested through the mobile program, including those without insurance or a physician referral, and there is no cost to be tested. For billing purposes, anyone with insurance must provide their insurance information when scheduling an appointment. Those without insurance can also be tested at no cost to them through a federal program that will reimburse the health department for all costs associated with the test. People who have insurance are not eligible for the federal program and may be held responsible for the cost of a COVID-19 test if they do not provide their health insurance information.

Test results will be reported by phone and, for those who sign up, by email. Individuals who provide an email address when registering online or by phone will receive an email from TestDirectly within approximately 24 hours of being tested with a link to receive their test results. All individuals are being given information on how to access their test results with a unique Key Code at the time of testing. All individuals with positive test results will receive a call from the WCHD for the purposes of supporting isolation and containment of the virus and contact tracing.

The Skagit County testing site will no longer be an option for Whatcom County residents, unless they work in Skagit County. Skagit County announced that as of Monday, Aug. 31, testing will be limited to those who live or work in Skagit County due to the unsustainable cost of service.

For more information on the mobile testing program and testing in Whatcom County visit the Whatcom County Health Department’s testing page.

This information is also available as a .pdf

# # #