COVID Testing at Firehouses Expands; Phase 2 Decision Later This Week
By • June 15, 2020 0 1282
Mayor Muriel Bowser and her team, including Department of Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt, M.D., and Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean, held their regular press conference on June 15 at Gonzaga College High School on North Capitol Street NW.
Bowser first announced that there were 32 new positive COVID-19 cases. Those bring the District’s overall positive case total to 9,799. The mayor also noted that there were no reported additional COVID-19 related deaths for June 14. The District has lost 515 residents to COVID-19.
The main subject of the press event was the expansion of COVID-19 testing to four D.C. firehouses.
Still, Bowser also replied to questions about when the Phase Two reopening would occur. She said that the reopening would be no earlier than Friday, June 19, but that the numbers looked promising. A decision is expected later in the week.
Here are details about testing at D.C. firehouses from the mayor’s office:
Beginning Monday, June 15, the District is expanding free COVID-19 testing to include four firehouses each day, Monday-Saturday. The firehouse testing sites are walk-up and no appointment is needed.
Over the past two weeks, two firehouses have been open each evening, Monday through Friday, for free COVID-19 testing. So far, more than 2,300 people have been tested at a firehouse. The testing at these sites is done by personnel from the DC Fire and EMS Department, the Public Health Lab and the Department of Health.
The new firehouse testing schedule is below.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 4 to 8 p.m.
Engine 4 (2531 Sherman Ave. NW)
Engine 11 (3420 14th St. NW)
Engine 24 (5101 Georgia Ave. NW)
Engine 31 (4930 Connecticut Ave. NW)
Thursday and Friday, from 4 to 8 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
Engine 8 (1520 C St. SE)
Engine 10 (1342 Florida Ave. NE)
Engine 30 (50 49th St. NE)
Engine 33 (101 Atlantic St. SE)
The firehouse testing sites are in addition to the many free testing sites across D.C., including the walk-up testing site at F Street NW between 4th and 5th Streets NW and the drive-thru and walk-up testing sites at 2241 Martin Luther King Jr Ave. SE in Ward 8 and at the UDC-CC Bertie Backus campus in Ward 5.
Residents are still encouraged to access testing through their health care providers so that they are connected to health care. However, anyone who needs a test can get a test at the testing locations listed above.
Find a full list of testing locations at coronavirus.dc.gov/testing.
