Quad Counties to offer asymptomatic community based COVID-19 testing

Approximately 1,800 residents in the Quad-County region who do not have any of the COVID-19 symptoms will be able to be tested for the virus starting May 4. The limited number of tests will be given by appointment only and those can be made starting Monday, April 27. About 150,000 people live in the Quad-County region so just over one-percent of residents without symptoms can get tested.

Residents in Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties will be able to get one of the limited tests. The Quad-County Multiagency Coordination (MAC) Group, Incident Management Team (IMT), and Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) made the announcement Thursday that they will be conducting asymptomatic community based COVID-19 testing for people without symptoms in each of their counties.

Starting April 27 at 8:00 a.m., Quad-County residents who are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and want to be tested can call (775)782-9090. The phone will be staffed starting that day at 8:00 a.m. and going until p.m. Callers will be asked what county they reside in along with other demographic information.

Testing will begin the week of May 4, 2020. With the help of the Nevada National Guard, approximately 1,800 COVID-19 tests will be administered to Quad-County residents with appointments who are not experiencing symptoms or asymptomatic. This test is not the COVID-19 antibody test. It detects if the virus is in your system at the time of testing. A negative result does not mean an individual will not contract the virus at a later time. The tests are limited by county and pre-registration is required. Testing locations will be available in each of the counties. The specific location will be given to the individual when they call to schedule an appointment.

“Conducting community testing for individuals who are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 will provide data to Quad-County leaders for decision-making purposes in the future,” said Battalion Chief Tom Raw, Carson City Deputy Emergency Manager and current Incident Commander for the Quad-County IMT.

Previously, individuals who were not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 did not meet the testing criteria as set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nevada State Public Health Laboratory has increased availability of testing supplies to CCHHS allowing the criteria to include people without symptoms.

If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, call the Quad-County COVID-19 Hotline at (775)283-4789. Individuals will be triaged and assessed by a nurse for testing. This hotline is for symptomatic individuals only; this is not the scheduling line mentioned above.

For more information on COVID-19 and situation updates visit https://gethealthycarsoncity.org/novel-coronavirus-2019/.