By WECT Staff | May 20, 2020 at 3:51 PM EDT – Updated May 20 at 4:03 PM
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – New Hanover County will continue to offer expanded, community-wide COVID-19 diagnostic testing to residents in the weeks to come, based on the community’s need, officials announced on Wednesday.
The drive-through testing location, which has been in downtown Wilmington, will transition into a smaller-scale operation behind the Scottish Rite Temple on 17th Street in Wilmington, beginning next week.
Residents who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should still call the Coronavirus Call Center at 910-798-6800, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to be pre-screened by a public health nurse and scheduled to visit an open-air, drive-through location. (The call center will be closed Monday, May 25, for the Memorial Day holiday.)
Since the expanded testing began on April 29, New Hanover County Public Health has conducted 608 diagnostic COVID-19 tests. Of those, 33 have returned positive, 511 negative and 64 are still pending results.
“When the county began expanded testing efforts, our plan was to offer this service until May 22, but we have seen a steady need for COVID-19 testing in our community,” said New Hanover County Board of Commissioners Chair Julia Olson-Boseman.
“The county has the resources and expertise to continue this valuable service, which is especially important as businesses reopen and activity increases. So our team is moving the site and scaling it down to make it even more efficient and accommodate the current demand. And not only are we testing people with symptoms, but our Public Health team is also offering testing to anyone who is determined to be a close contact of a positive case. This expands our visibility even more, and helps identify and contain new cases of COVID-19 quicker than before,” she said.
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