Free pop-up COVID-19 testing site at Nittany Mall extended a few more days, state says
A free pop-up COVID-19 testing site at the Nittany Mall will extend its services another five days, from Tuesday through Saturday, due to Centre County’s high testing positivity rate, the state Department of Health announced Tuesday morning.
The drive-thru testing site, which doesn’t require an appointment, initially opened Sept. 25 and was expected to last until this past Saturday. But, because the county still has the state’s highest testing positivity rate at 9.4%, AMI Expeditionary Healthcare — which signed a contract with the state Department of Health to provide such care — decided to stay a little longer.
The site will close one hour earlier over the next five days, operating from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the State College mall (2901 E. College Ave.).
Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine publicly pinpointed Centre County as an area of concern in mid-September.
“I have directed my staff to assist Centre County in identifying localized containment and mitigation efforts to reduce the spread and facilitate communications between large employers, county officials and local governments,” Levine said last month. “This group will work together to develop strategic recommendations tailored to this specific area to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
From March to mid-August, before the official Penn State student move-in, the county had 392 total cases of the coronavirus. Since then, it’s added more than 2,500 cases — with most coming in the State College area.
Although the county’s testing positivity rate has fallen the past two weeks, from 12.1% to 12% to 9.4%, it continues to have the highest rate in the commonwealth. Multiple experts have said that anything less than 5% means it’s relatively safe to reopen, while anything greater than 10% is largely seen as a serious cause for concern.
According to the state DOH’s early warning monitoring system, 56 of of the state’s 67 counties remain below 5% testing positivity. Centre County (9.4%), Northumberland County (9.3%) and Snyder County (7.8%) have the highest rates.
Centre County’s first-come, first-served site will be able to accommodate up to 440 people per day, and results are expected in 2-7 days. Although the cost is free and appointments are not necessary, the state DOH still requests those interested bring a photo ID and insurance card.
A similar testing site will also be set up at the Indiana Mall in Indiana County on Thursday and will run through Monday. Indiana has a 5.9% testing positivity, but it had reached 10% in past weeks. The state DOH said in a news release it believes increased testing will help determine the prevalence of the virus while assisting the county in moving forward.
An AMI testing site also ran in Columbia County from Sept. 25 through Saturday. That site has not been extended.
