SPRUCE PINE – The Mitchell County Health Department will be conducting a drive-thru testing site for any citizen of Mitchell County to be tested for COVID-19, regardless of insurance status and whether one is showing symptoms.
The drive-thru testing is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at Harris Middle School. People wanting to be tested should bring their Medicaid or insurance card and their driver’s license.
The drive-thru testing clinic in Mitchell County will be the third conducted by the Toe River Health District. The first clinic took place Thursday, May 7, in Avery County, which was the only county in the state without a positive case at the time. Nearly 300 people were tested during the Avery County clinic. The Yancey County Health Department will be doing a free drive-thru testing clinic for COVID-19 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14.
“We’re likely to see the first positive case in Avery County soon because Avery County is not doing anything different than the other counties in terms of safety measures,” said Diane Creek, director of the Toe River Health District. “An increase in the number of people testing positive could be the result of more people getting tested, but it’s impossible to really tell what the reason for a spike in the number of positive cases could be a result of.”
More people had been tested in Mitchell County than in Avery and Yancey before the drive-thru clinic in Avery, Creek said.
“I hope people take advantage of these clinics,” she said. “The state suggests 5 percent of a county’s population get tested and in Mitchell that needs to be around 750 people.”
Call the Mitchell County Health Department at 828-688-2371 with questions or for more information about drive-thru testing.