Another 50 COVID-19 testing sites will soon be coming to Indiana. Indiana State Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver announced Tuesday that the state has reached an agreement with OptumServe Health Services to operate the new sites.
“Twenty sites will be opening in Indiana National Guard armories in the next seven days, with 50 sites total to be open in the following week,” she said during state officials’ press conference Tuesday. “Each site will be open for at least eight hours per day Monday through Friday, and once all 50 sites are open, as many as 6,600 Hoosiers can be tested per day.”
LaPorte, Logansport, South Bend, and Valparaiso will all have sites opening next week. They’ll be available to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, those who’ve been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive, and symptomatic residents who live in congregate settings. Those who fall into those categories will be able to put their symptoms into an online screening tool and schedule an appointment.
The tests will be free of charge to residents, but those who have insurance are asked to bring that information. On average, residents will get their results back within 48 hours.
Governor Eric Holcomb encouraged those with symptoms to get tested. “We’re going to be in your backyard, so if you’re showing symptoms, go through that portal, log on, and go find out,” he said.
Dr. Weaver added that the Optum tests will be in addition to the State Department of Health’s existing efforts, which will continue to focus on high-risk populations. She said the program will cost the state $17.9 million, but officials hope most of that will be covered by federal grants.
She said Indiana’s testing is already much better than it was earlier in the month, having surpassed Ohio and Kentucky, when it comes to COVID-19 tests per capita.
