Health department to begin drive-thru coronavirus testing on Canton Street

Testing will be done Monday through Thursday in the department's parking lot.

The Christian County Health Department will offer drive-thru COVID-19 testing at its Canton Street parking lot beginning Monday, Sept. 13, to help address increased local demand amid rising coronavirus cases. The department is also doubling the number of days — to four — that it offers the testing, and it is dropping the requirement for a scheduled appointment. 

Drive-thru testing will be available from 7:45 a.m. to noon and 1 to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, officials announced in a Facebook post

The health department offers the PCR, a molecular test that detects genetic material of the virus with a laboratory technique called polymerase chain reaction. Results will take 48 to 72 hours. 

“When entering from Canton, please follow signage to the backside of the building for COVID-19 testing,” the announcement states. “Please do not enter the lobby of CCHD for COVID-19 testing.”

There is no charge for a COVID-19 test.

Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.