By Rhonda Davis
BUCYRUS – Members of the Ohio National Guard will be in Bucyrus Monday for a COVID-19 pop-up testing site in the parking lot at Crawford County Public Health.
Free COVID-19 tests will be available from 3 to 7 p.m. at 1520 Isaac Beal Rd. in Bucyrus. No appointment is necessary and anyone, including non-Crawford County residents, can drive up to the outdoor tent and be tested.
“It’s a first for our area,” said Kate Siefert, Public Health Commissioner, of the pop-up testing site, which is one of several regional locations planned for assisting underserved areas across Ohio.
Siefert stressed that the PCR diagnostic test – a swab up the nose – is strictly to determine if a person currently is infected with the novel coronavirus. Results, she said, will be available from the lab – Mako Medical – within 72 hours and are 99.9-percent accurate.
A health-care provider’s referral is not required, she said, so college students who need a COVID-19 test in order to return to school or anyone from age one and older who doesn’t have a physician or a doctor’s order is eligible to be tested.
“This will definitely help facilitate people’s needs that don’t have access to testing,” Siefert said Friday after a walk-through of the facility by Guard members. “We’ve already had phone calls from people inquiring about the testing.”
Although PCR quantities are limited, health officials are predicting up to 400 people could show up during the four-hour testing site Monday, Siefert said. Everyone is required to wear a facial covering until test time, she said.
“We’re not trying to inflate our numbers for Crawford County,” Siefert said. “We’re actually anticipating negative results.”