Weather closes some COVID testing sites, but options remain in Pierce County
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Snow Days 2021
The frigid cold that gripped Western Washington and dumped several inches of snow in the city is expected to stick around.
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The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department closed its COVID-19 testing sites Monday following the weekend snowstorm and below-freezing temperatures that have put Western Washington on ice.
Other testing sights remain open. Many of those are pharmacies.
“Right now, we’re assuming that all the pharmacies, if they are still open, are doing testing,” said TPCHD spokesman Kenny Via.
He urged anyone in need of testing for the disease caused by the coronavirus to first look for locations on TPCHD’s website and then call ahead. The website also lists whether testing sites are walk-in or drive-thru, if rapid tests are available and if appointments are necessary.
Open on Monday is a site run by Pierce County Emergency Management. The location at 3003 107th St. S. in Lakewood is drive-thru style. No appointment is necessary.
“We had a line of folks waiting to get tested this morning,” said spokesman Mike Halliday. On Sunday, 660 people were tested at the site.
“We’ve been seeing more people show up since Thanksgiving,” Halliday said.
Halliday urged anyone using the Lakewood site to call or check websites before driving to the location. Weather conditions might cause the site to close early, he said.
Rapid testing, whether in-person or with home kits, is hard to find.
Out of TPCHD’s three temporarily closed sites (Cheney Stadium, Bonney Lake Park & Ride and East Pierce County) only the East Pierce location at 10417 Canyon Road E. in Puyallup will have rapid testing when it reopens.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
