Testing sites, dates changing in NW Georgia

Testing for COVID-19 in many Northwest Georgia counties will be different starting Tuesday, Sept. 1.

The Georgia Department of Public Health announced some date and time changes for coronavirus testing at many of its locations.

Testing will still be free for everyone.

The new roll-out will offer additional testing times and new testing sites throughout the corner of the state.

Gary Voccio, health director for the 10-county Northwest Health District, said in a news release the update to testing is to give the public a more convenient way to get tested “while better balancing demand for testing with our resources.”

Voccio also said it’s recommended for people who are showing symptoms to get tested.

He advised that people who are in quarantine after having contact with a positive COVID-19 case should get tested on the tenth day of their quarantine.

Under the new program, the state 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.

The four regions are split up like this:

› Catoosa, Dade, and Walker counties

› Floyd and Chattooga counties

› Bartow and Gordon counties

› Haralson, Paulding and Polk counties

The new program means testing will no longer be offered at county health departments in Catoosa, Chattooga, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk or Walker counties.

Test sites at the West Rome Baptist Church in Rome and the Clarence Brown Conference Center in Cartersville will also be closed starting Tuesday.

Testing in Catoosa County will be open Mondays

and Tuesdays at Ringgold United Methodist Church. Testing in Dade County will be open on Wednesdays at the Dade County Health Department. Testing in Walker County will be open on Thursdays and Fridays at Chattanooga Valley Nazarene Church.

Saturday testing will be open in Catoosa County on the first and third Saturday of the month, in Walker County on the second and fourth Saturday of the month and in Dade County on the fifth.

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.

Residents do not have to live in a county to get tested. Anyone — including residents of Tennessee, Alabama and other states — may get tested for free.

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

For more information on testing in the region, visit nwgapublichealth.org.