by Kate Evans
Some 197 people were tested for COVID-19 at a Wednesday, September 9 free testing event at the Morgan County Health Department. Testing was done in the evening — from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the Berkeley-Morgan County Health Department and Q Labs provided the coronavirus testing.
As of Monday, Health Department officials said 196 of those tests were negative for the respiratory disease.
Jennifer Schetrompf, Berkeley-Morgan Health Department Threat Preparedness/Health Promotion Coordinator, said that those tested can check their test results online.
Schetrompf said that a mix of families and individuals turned out for the testing. More demographic information such as ages, sex, race, etc. would be available online at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources website within a couple weeks.
She said the Health Department’s “main focus was to provide a safe and efficient testing environment for our community members.”
Schetrompf said that it was very encouraging to not only see the number of community members that came out to be tested at the event but also to meet the need for an additional testing opportunity for the community with a very hardworking group of staff and volunteers.
Testing site assistance was provided by Berkeley and Morgan County Health Department staff, the Morgan County Emergency Manager, Morgan County Schools, Morgan County Deputy Reserves, Shepherd University senior nursing students and community volunteers.
“We recommended that any individuals who were tested follow the recommendation to self-quarantine until they receive their test results. We continue to encourage community members to follow current face covering and social distancing guidelines,” Schetrompf said.
In May, 358 additional people were tested at a free COVID-19 testing event that occurred at Warm Springs Middle School on May 29 and May 30, bringing the total to 555 people that have received COVID-19 testing in Morgan County through one of the free testing sites, she noted.
