Any Georgia resident who wants COVID-19 test, screening can get one, officials say
Gov. Brian Kemp and the state’s health commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey encouraged all Georgians to get screened and tested for the novel coronavirus during the state’s weekly update on Thursday.
Citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kemp told reporters that all Georgians should make appointments with their healthcare provider, their local health department or get screened for the illness through a telemedicine app run by Augusta University Health.
This includes Georgians who don’t have COVID-19 symptoms. Testing at state-run sites is free, according to the state health department.
“We have opened up the criteria... that anyone who wants to get a test regardless of their symptoms can be tested,” Toomey told reporters. “We want to ensure that everyone who wants to get tested can get access to free testing through one of our sites.”
(For a list of testing sites across the state, visit the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website. Call to schedule an appointment. Click here to find a list of locations. )
Kemp announced that Peach Bowl, Inc., the organization that operates the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and other related events, was donating $1.09 million to assist Augusta University Health with its expanded app. The program allows Georgians to be virtually screened for COVID-19 at no cost and without an appointment.
Patients who screen positive for common symptoms on the app will be scheduled for testing at their nearest drive-thru location, and those who screen negative will be directed for further evaluation and treatment, according to the governor’s office.
Health officials also said Thursday the federal government committed to sending 210,000 test swabs to Georgia in the month of May. The shipments will be broken up into weekly allocations.
Georgia ranks 30th out of 50 in testing per capita as testing continues to expand, according to the COVID Mapping Project. The state was previously in the bottom 10. State and private labs have performed more than 217,000 coronavirus tests as of May 7.
The suggestions come as labs across the state deal with backlogs that resulted in some mobile testing sites run by the state National Guard and Augusta University to temporarily stop collecting samples earlier this week.
Dr. Philip Coule of Augusta University Health told McClatchy Tuesday labs are having issues getting results to patients. Substances used to test the samples are a constraint as well.
“The problem has become a limitation at the lab and beyond the lab — getting the results back to the individual. ...We’ve stressed those systems, and now, we’re fixing the difficulties we’re having with those systems,” Coule said.
Kemp reiterated the state’s efforts to expand lab capacity as sample collections continue to increase.
“We’ve been working on the lab situation,” Kemp said. “We did indeed press our labs. This is something we’ve never been through. Nobody was prepared for, I think, this widespread testing like we were doing. ...We have a whole team working that.”
As of 12:25 p.m. Friday, Georgia reported 32,016 cases and 1,357 coronavirus deaths.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:29 PM.