A new testing site for COVID-19 will soon be available in Tarrant County.
On Friday and Saturday, the campus on 3500 Miller Avenue in Fort Worth will be a pop-up testing site run by the state.
It was approved by Tarrant County commissioners this week.
“This is the third visit of this testing unit to Tarrant County. They move it around,” Commissioner Brooks of Precinct 1 said. “This is an under-served community and in fact, it’s one of the zip codes in Tarrant County with the highest COVID infection rate.”
Brooks said they are prepared to test up to 400 people for free.
Dr. Emily Spence is an associate professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
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“Generally speaking, most of southeast Fort Wort, there are multiple zip codes in that area, are considered underserved,” Dr. Spence said.
When looking at underserved communities and the disparity between needs and services, Spence said there are “three a’s”. This includes availability and accessibility.
“The last ‘a’ is adequacy and that’s really important too. If people go and get a service and maybe there’s a super long wait for it, they might deem it inadequate for themselves,” Spence explained.
While this particular testing site will be available for two days, Brooks said they are trying to provide as many opportunities as possible to get people tested.
“They are trying to test a variety of people, but there will be prescreening questions. Hopefully, the screening is loose enough that most people will qualify,” he said. “Testing is needed all over Tarrant County. It’s the only way to feel safe about reopening the county and its businesses to the public.”
Testing will be done by appointment only between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. To register, visit txcovidtest.org or call 512-883-2400.
