Lansdale one of 6 additional test sites

NORRISTOWN » New walk-up coronavirus testing sites will open in Lansdale, Willow Grove, Ardmore and Green Lane next week, joining sites in Pottstown and Norristown, as Montgomery County officials continue to urge residents to get tested.

“Based on resident feedback, the county, beginning July 6, will stand up new walk-up testing sites in a number of locations around the county,” Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh revealed during a Wednes

day news briefing. “We will also continue to operate the existing walk-up sites in Norristown and Pottstown.”

A new testing site will be located at 421 Main St. in Lansdale and will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m.

A new testing site will be available at the county’s Willow Grove Office of Public Health at 102 Old York Rd. Testing will be available there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Another new walk-up site will be located at Deep Creek and Snyder roads in the Green Lane Park area, where tests will be available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m.

The last new site will be located in Ardmore at 114 W. Lancaster Avenue where testing will be available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m.

“I want to give very special and very heartfelt thanks to the Piazza Organization who is allowing us to locate this testing site in a parking lot owned by them,” Arkoosh said. “This is an example of true public service to our community and we are very, very grateful.”

A walk-up testing site will continue to be available at the county’s Office of Public Health Pottstown Health Center at 364 King St. Testing will be available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The sites in Pottstown, Green Lane, Lansdale, Willow Grove and Ardmore will open on Monday, July 6.

A walk-up testing site in Norristown, which is located on the parking lot of the Delaware Valley Community Health Norristown Regional Health Center at 1401 DeKalb St., will reopen on Tuesday, July 7. Testing hours will be announced at a later date.

To register for a test at any of the sites, residents can go to www.montcopa. org/COVID-19 and click on the county testing information button. Residents can also register for a test at any of the six sites by calling 610-970-2937.

That phone number as well as the online registration will open at 8:30 a.m. Monday, July 6, officials said.

“I want to emphasize that these county-run sites will be no cost, although insurance will be billed if you have it, but there’s no requirement for that. They will not require a health care provider’s order and we will test individuals of any age who either want or need to be tested,” Arkoosh explained.

Funding for the new sites, Arkoosh said, will be covered by federal CARES Act monies the county is slated to receive. The county previously was earmarked to receive about $145 million under the CARES Act to fight the coronavirus.

Pennsylvania’s seven largest counties, including Montgomery County, received funds directly from the federal government under the CARES Act.

The CARES Act established the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. The CARES Act requires that payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund only be used to cover expenses that “are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency” associated with the coronavirus, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The initial federal funding that the county received in March for COVID-19 testing ended on June 30, which brought an end to the drive-thru testing site at the central campus of the Montgomery County Community College in Whitpain. Since April 16, more than 11,900 people were tested at the drive-thru site, according to county statistics.

Officials added that through June 26, including all testing sites in the county, there have been 81,632 tests conducted on Montgomery County residents, representing nearly 10 percent of the county’s population.

“Some people have had more than one test for a variety of reasons, but nonetheless, this is a very sizable number of tests and a number that gives me some confidence that we are reaching enough people that we have a pretty good handle of what’s going on here in the county,” Arkoosh said.

Meanwhile, officials on Wednesday reported 47 new positive cases of the coronavirus and one more virusrelated death.

The total 47 new positive cases bring the county’s total number of cases to 8,395 since March 7 when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county. Twelve of the individuals resided in long-term care facilities and the remaining 35 individuals were other members of the community.

The positive individuals, 28 females and 18 males, ranged in age from 7 to 100 and they resided in 20 municipalities, officials reported.

Officials also reported one more COVID-19 death, which brought the county’s death toll to 800 since the pandemic began in March.

To date, 423 females and 377 males have died from the virus.

According to county data, 712 of the total 800 deaths were individuals who resided in long-term care facilities, representing about 83 percent of the total deaths.

The 800 total deaths were “confirmed positive” COVID-19 cases through the use of lab tests.

Officials said 93 other deaths in the county have been listed as “probable” COVID-19 deaths. Those are deaths that list COVID-19 as a cause of death on a death certificate but in which there was no laboratory confirmation of the virus.