HHS Launches Additional COVID-19 Testing in Hotspots
On July 7, 2020, in response to surging COVID-19 cases across the country, the Department of Health and Human Services announced free COVID-19 testing in Jacksonville, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Edinburg, Texas. COVID-19 testing at these virus hotspots is available to anyone who is experiencing symptoms, may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or is worried about possibly having the virus. Hospital ICUs in many of the states experiencing COVID-19 surges are already near or at capacity. More information on current hospital capacity can be found here and here. Meanwhile, during Kentucky Governor Beshear’s COVID-19 update on July 9, 2020, Dr. Steven Stack, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, reminded Kentuckians that they do not need a clinician’s order to receive a free COVID-19 test at any of the locations on the testing map displayed at kycovid19.ky.gov. As of this writing, there are 212 free testing locations for Kentuckians.