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BELLEFONTE -- Free COVID-19 testing will be returning to Centre County in 2021.
At Tuesday's Centre County Board of Commissioners' meeting, they unanimously extended the contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare. Free testing will take place from Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 through Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. Testing will take place from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays.
With cases in Centre County skyrocketing at an alarming rate, the commissioners felt the need to act, especially with the Christmas and New Year's holiday on the horizon.
"I do think that this period of testing will be crucial as we will have individuals that will potentially travel after Christmas or even celebrate New Year's, and we would want to have testing in place past that," chair Michael Pipe said.
Centre County's largest hospital, Mount Nittany Medical Center, is currently treating 52 COVID-19 inpatients. The patients are between the ages of 38 and 97, according to a hospital spokesperson.
"Centre County continues to see spread of the deadly coronavirus. Our hospital has a record high number of our neighbors hospitalized with the virus," Pipe said. "Please, for their sake, continue to mask up and stay home."
COVID-19 testing will once again be free of charge. Those who want a test merely have to show ID or a health insurance card.
"If you need a test, the Centre County Commissioners are extending the availability of testing into 2021 for the safety of our community," Pipe noted.
The testing site, which has been operating out of the old Bon-Ton location at the Nittany Mall, shut down recently after operating for several weeks at the location. According to county administrator Margaret Gray, more than 5,550 tests were given at the site -- an average of 221 tests per day.
The site is funded by CARES Act funds the county received earlier this year. While the site has been in operation, the county has paid approximately $78,000 per week to operate the testing site. Tuesday's contract extension is for $316,025.42 -- about $79,000 per week -- and allows for 300 tests per day.
"The amount of the contract that is being presented here today represents about $1,000 a week additional cost to the county," Gray said.
According to Gray, AMI is in high demand as numbers continue to rise throughout the country.
"They do have supply and demand issues currently … it's harder (for them) to get people," Gray said.
The site could return to the Nittany Mall. However, the location is still being discussed.
"We are waiting to hear about the availability of the Nittany Mall. It may be that we need to change locations. AMI is aware of that as well. I want to be clear that there is no commitment yet from the Nittany Mall for our ability to stay at that location," Gray said.
According to Gray, if the Nittany Mall is not available, the county will quickly identify an alternate location.
The commissioners announced that county offices will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday.
The Board of Commissioners will meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29. That meeting will be held via Zoom and available live on C-NET.