Wake Launches New Round of Testing in Areas of High COVID Positivity Rates

Three new locations will operate Jan. 19–24

Wake County continues to partner with area towns and cities to offer new testing sites in ZIP codes seeing high rates of COVID-19 infection.

While three permanent COVID-19 testing sites remain open six days a week, Wake County Public Health has teamed up with the Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department to offer free drive-thru testing in three areas that have seen upward of 9% positivity rates. These Raleigh park testing locations will be open tomorrow through Sunday.

“There’s no cost, no appointment necessary, no insurance needed, and no ID required,” said Eugene Chalwe, Wake County’s COVID-19 Operations Manager. “We need to stress, if you have any reason to believe you might have been exposed to COVID-19, you are welcome to be tested. You don’t even need a car at our drive-thru testing, you can simply walk up.”

Wake County will offer testing from Tuesday, Jan. 19, through Sunday, Jan. 24, at the following parks:


Here are the hours:

  • Tuesday, Jan. 19
    11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Jan. 20, through Saturday, Jan. 23
    8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Sunday, Jan. 24
    11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
     

The following permanent locations will maintain their Monday through Saturday hours every week:

For the latest testing times and locations, check wakegov.com/testing. Use the “< >” symbols to scroll through the days of the week.

How do we test? Several tents and lanes will be set up in each park and you’ll pull up in your car. Staff will hand you a short swab, and you’ll be asked to circle it around in the lower part of your nose several times. Then, you’ll put the swab in a vial and hand it back to us. It takes seconds.

How do I get my results? You’ll be given a card with information about how to go online or sign up for an email to get your results. Most results return within 24–48 hours.

Who can get tested? Testing is available for everyone and especially recommended for:

  • People who have symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting and loss of smell;
  • People who have been a “close contact” to someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 (a case) within the last 14 days;
  • People with or without symptoms who are part of an outbreak response or contact investigation in high-risk settings, such as nursing homes, congregate living facilities, correctional facilities, or persons experiencing homelessness; and
  • People without symptoms who believe they may be currently infected should consider getting tested (For instance, if in the past 2 weeks you were around many people who were not wearing face coverings and/or were not keeping a safe distance.
     

Testing is NOT recommended for people who have already had a positive viral COVID-19 test in the last 90 days and do not currently have symptoms of COVID-19.

If you traveled in January, you may have been exposed to COVID-19. You and your travel companions (including children) may pose a risk to your family, friends and community. Regardless of where you traveled or what you did during your trip, take these actions to protect others from getting COVID-19 for 14 days after travel:

  • Consider getting tested with a viral test three to five days after travel.
  • Reduce non-essential activities for a full seven days, even if your test is negative.
  • If you don’t get tested, consider reducing non-essential activities for 10 days after travel.
  • Stay at least six feet (about two arms’ lengths) away from anyone who did not travel with you, particularly in crowded areas. It’s important to do this everywhere – both indoors and outdoors.
  • Wear a mask to keep your nose and mouth covered when you are in shared spaces outside of your home, including when using public transportation.
  • If there are people in the household who did not travel with you, wear a mask and ask everyone in the household to wear masks in shared spaces inside your home.
  • Wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
  • Avoid people who are at increased risk for severe illness.
  • Look for symptoms of COVID-19 and take your temperature if you feel sick. The CDC considers a person to have a fever if his or her temperature registers 100.4 or higher – meaning it would be almost 2 degrees above what’s considered an average “normal” temperature of 98.6 degrees.
     

Staying Updated
Visit Wake County’s multilingual COVID-19 webpage, which has a set of frequently asked questions to educate residents, COVID-19 vaccine information, as well as contact information to ask specific questions.

Also look for important information on Wake County’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Department
Health & Human Services
Category
Press Release