Morgan County health staff tested local residents for COVID at a free event on Thursday.
Editor’s note: This story has been edited to add updated information about testing events in Morgan County this weekend.
The Morgan County Health Department has scheduled more free COVID testing events as local case numbers have risen since last weekend. The county’s status on the state’s DHHR COVID alert map worsened from gold to orange on Thursday, October, 15.
Health department officials conducted a testing at the Berkeley Springs health department site on Thursday and Friday. Residents were asked to schedule their testing in 15 minute intervals.
Drive-up testing was held Friday, October 16 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Morgan County Health Department, located at 137 War Memorial Drive in Berkeley Springs.
Two more drive-up testing events will be held on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 at Warm Springs Middle School parking lot from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Residents are asked to bring an ID to ensure testers have valid contact information. Anyone attending the testing should wear a face covering. Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
State health protocols dictate that when COVID case infection rates rise to certain levels, free testing must be offered in that county until infection rates drop.
This additional testing comes as Morgan County COVID cases have continued to rise over the last week, shifting the county into the Orange status on the state’s COVID alert system map. That status means a heightened rate of community transmission of the respiratory disease that’s caused by the coronavirus. As of this Wednesday, 33 Morgan County residents had active cases of the disease, up from 21 the previous Thursday. In total, 85 county residents had been confirmed to have been infected by the virus, with four additional probable cases. There have been no deaths attributed to the disease in Morgan County so far.
