JOPLIN, Mo. – The Omicron variant, employer testing requirements, and a shortage of at-home COVID test kits have left some people wondering where they can go to get a COVID test. We spoke with officials at Freeman Health System and with a group offering free COVID tests.
Getting a COVID test, let alone a free COVID test, is something that’s not been easy lately. That’s why the seeds of hope staffing agency out of Carthage decided to setup zero-cost drive-thru testing sites. Julie Hawkins, Owner of Seeds of Hope Staffing Agency says “It’s really important because there are people that does not have insurance or anything and we want to be able to have them be able to come down here and test and not worry and we’re here to help the community.”
They have locations in Webb City, Carthage, Neosho, and this one in Joplin at 7th and Range Line. They have plans to open additional locations in Miami, Lamar, Nevada, and Pittsburg. Hawkins says “We have been busy, you know we had a site up in Carthage, and we still have that site, we’ve been up for three weeks over there and it’s getting really busy over there as well.”
They’re not the only busy testing site. Freeman Health System is still offering its drive-thru COVID testing site and Freeman’s Infection Prevention Manager, Jessica Liberty, says, traffic is increasing. “The last couple of weeks we’ve seen almost a 100% increase in COVID testing, that’s just for a wide range of reasons, not even necessarily the weekly COVID testing for non-compliant employees, but, more symptomatic patients in the community that are sick.”
Liberty says they’ve seen another increase outside of just COVID cases and testing. “We have definitely seen a huge increase in respiratory illnesses of all kinds, especially the last couple of weeks with everybody getting together for the holidays and sharing germs and I really do anticipate continuing to see that, we have seen an increase in COVID cases, but we’ve also seen an increase in other illnesses as well.”
You can click here if you’re looking for information on where to get tested in your area.
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