The pop-up testing comes after a concerning week for Ohio, with the record for daily cases being broken on three different days. Saturday set the most recent high with 2,234 cases reported, according to the state health department.
With winter approaching, Gov. Mike DeWine has continued to stress the importance of getting coronavirus under control as people spend more and more time indoors.
Public Health has hosted at least a half dozen pop-up testing sites throughout the pandemic.
The test is free and no appointment or doctor’s note is needed.
“It’s free for anybody who wants to come out,” Dan Suffoletto, public information supervisor of Public Health - Dayton and Montgomery County, said. “So you can come out and get yourself tested, get your family tested, to see whether you have COVID or not.”
For those living with someone who is high risk, such as the elderly or immunocompromised, it’s especially important to get tested, he said.
With more people catching COVID, it makes it easier for more people to come into contact with it and catch it.
“As it spreads throughout the community and throughout the nation there’s more and more cases and more and more chances for people to get exposed,” Suffoletto said. “Unfortunately more and more deaths goes along with that, so we’re trying to keep down the number of hospitalizations so that they don’t get overcrowded so they’ll be able to handle not only COVID cases, but other cases as well.”
Until a vaccine has been created, the three best ways to protect yourself are still staying at least 6 feet away from people, wearing a face mask and washing your hands as frequently as possible, he said.
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