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COVID-19

New COVID-19 test sites open, lines shorten at others

Credit to KMOV St. Louis

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV.com) – To help meet the skyrocketing demand for COVID-19 testing, new testing sites opened up Monday in St. Louis City and St. Louis County.

Testing is now available at The Pageant Theater on the Delmar Loop 7 days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Kelly Atwood and her two teenage sons got tested there.

“Super easy. We pre-registered online and just showed up and and waited maybe 10, 15 minutes and we were done,” she said.

The testing is being conducted by Nomi Health and registration is done online. The location has the capacity to test 500 to 1,000 people a day. Both rapid tests and the more accurate PCR tests are available. Walkups are welcome.

St. Louis County opened a new test site at the North St. Louis County Recreation Complex on Redman Road. Appointments must be scheduled online. Sixth grader Khristen Miller and her mother booked an appointment for Monday afternoon.

“And we’ve been around a lot of people, like going in and out of stores. So we just thought we should get tested,” she said.

The site has a capacity to test up to 200 people a day, but the capacity will be increased later.

Ballpark Village is conducting COVID testing 5 days a week. Last week, hundreds were tested and some had to wait in line as long as 90 minutes. But today there was virtually no waiting.

Lines were also shorter at the IBEW Local #1 offices at 5850 Elizabeth Avenue in South City. Last week, some reported waiting in their cars for the drive-through testing for up to four hours. Today the process took about 90 minutes.

GS Labs is also doing testing at its laboratories nationwide, including a local lab at 6940 South Lindbergh Boulevard. Appointments are required and can be booked online.  According to Medical Laboratory Director Lindsey Nielsen, Ph.D., appointments are usually available the same day or next day.

“Simply drive up, stay in their cars and we’ll come up and collect a sample from them and we’ll return a result very quickly. Within 20 to 30 minutes after the test is completed,” she said.

In St. Charles County, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is conducting drive-thru testing at the Family Arena in St. Charles. To make an appointment you can visit the website here.

Testing is also available 6 days a week in Fairview Heights at St. Clair Square. No appointments are necessary. You can get more information here.  And information on COVID-19 testing options in Madison County can be found here.