SoHum Health Laboratory Offering Free Rapid COVID-19 Testing

GARBERVILLE, Calif. (KIEM) – As of today, the Southern Humboldt Community Health Care District’s health laboratory started offering free, rapid COVID-19 tests to anyone in the community.

Laboratory manager, Adam Summers, explains the testing process saying, “We have a test method that’s designed for very quickly giving a result on a single patient, so at our hospital we actually have two test systems side-by-side. They run one patient at a time and we get results within 20 minutes.”

The test requires a nose swab and results will be available on the same day by filling out a request form with the lab. It was previously only given to those with a medical provider’s order, but a new protocol was put in place.

Now, community members can be tested without having to get a doctor’s appointment.

The COVID-19 tests are billed to healthcare providers and they will fully cover the cost of testing. People without health coverage will be offered the lowest-cost approach after reviewing their financial status.