Those that qualify still need to call and make an appointment — but the DeKalb County Board of Health is opening up COVID-19 testing services to a wider range of residents.
The move is part of a push by Gov. Brian Kemp to expand testing throughout the state. DeKalb public health officials had previously only offered testing to those with a reference number from a doctor.
Under the new guidelines, the following people will now be able to schedule an appointment for testing:
- Hospitalized patients
- People with symptoms that fall under the following categories:
- Health care workers, first responders and other critical infrastructure workers
- Those living in long-term care facilities or other group residential settings
- Those 65 years or older
- Those with underlying medical conditions
- Household members or caregivers of any of the groups above
- Those with close contact with a known COVID-19 case
- People without symptoms that fall under the following categories, as testing capacity allows:
- Healthcare workers, first responders, and other critical infrastructure workers that have been exposed to COVID-19
- Residents of long-term care facilities or other group residential settings with an outbreak of COVID-19
Anyone meeting the new criteria must call DeKalb's COVID-19 call center at 404-294-3700 and select Option 1 to schedule an appointment.
The call center is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
DeKalb County has kept the locations of its two testing sites confidential. The location will only be revealed to individuals who have scheduled a testing appointment.
As of Tuesday evening, Georgia had confirmed 14,578 cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. A total of 524 deaths had been reported.
DeKalb County had seen the state’s third-highest case total with 1,144. But its reported death total of 15 was comparatively low.