Here’s how to get an appointment for Whatcom Health’s COVID-19 mobile testing
A new mobile coronavirus testing program will open in Bellingham on Monday, according to the Whatcom County Health Department.
The test site will be at 211 E. Champion Street and will be open for appointments from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Aug. 17-19, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 21-22, according to a news release. The site can serve up to 240 people during this trial phase of testing, but will be able to serve up to 480 people once other sites are up and running.
Anyone can get tested through the program, including people without insurance or a physician referral and there is no cost to be tested, according to the release.
Tests are available by appointment only through TestDirectly or by calling 360-778-6075 between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily. More information on testing is available on the health department’s website.
Test results will be available within 24 hours via email, or within 72 hours via a phone call for people who don’t sign up with one.
An additional six operation sites, one at each school district in the county, are expected to open as soon as Aug. 24. The Whatcom Unified Command, the multi-governmental agency that’s directing local pandemic response, has also been working with the health department on setting up the additional sites and testing.
The new site is part of an effort to provide easier ways to get tested for COVID-19 by creating a “low-barrier, mobile testing program” throughout the county. Field testing sites have been operating since Aug. 10.
“We know that timely testing and results are essential in preventing the spread of COVID-19. We also know there are several barriers to testing, whether it’s access to insurance or a primary care provider, reasonable wait times, or distance from home,” Health Department director Erika Lautenbach said in the Sunday, Aug. 16, new release. “We’re providing this additional long-term testing option to address those barriers and augment the testing options already offered by Northwest Laboratory and healthcare providers in our community.”