May 22, 2020
ST. CHARLES COUNTY, MO – The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) and Missouri National Guard will perform drive-through testing for COVID-19 at two St. Charles County locations for five consecutive days beginning May 26. The tests are open to all residents of Missouri who register online; they do not have to have COVID-19 symptoms to be eligible for the test.
“We are grateful to the state for making this opportunity possible,” says St. Charles County Department of Public Health Director Demetrius Cianci-Chapman. “Testing is extremely important in this pandemic and kits have been difficult to get. The more testing that is done – on symptomatic as well as asymptomatic residents – the more we will continue to learn about how this disease spreads and how prevalent it is in our communities.”
Testing will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, May 26-28, at the St. Charles County Department of Public Health, 1650 Boone’s Lick Road in St. Charles; and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 29-30, at the St. Charles County Youth Activity Park, 7801 Highway N in Dardenne Prairie. The state expects to perform 2,500 tests at these two sites; there are eight sites statewide conducting testing over a 10-day period.
Online registration is required through DHSS at health.mo.gov/communitytest or by calling the state hotline at 877-435-8411. Registrants will be given a 15-minute appointment block. Upon arrival at the drive-through testing site, they will be asked questions, including about symptoms they may or may not have. Members of the National Guard will collect the nasopharyngeal specimen and it will be sent to a Quest Diagnostics lab for processing. Patients will be notified of their results by the Department of Health and Senior Services within 7 days.
Those who receive a positive test should stay home, isolate themselves and call their provider if any concerns arise.
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