COVID-19 Mass Testing Event to be Held December 7 and 8

Published on: December 4, 2020

Samaritan Medical Center, Carthage Area Hospital, Jefferson County Public Health and the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) are hosting a community-wide COVID-19 mass testing event on Monday, December 7th and Tuesday, December 8th. Collectively, these organizations hope to test as many community members as possible in these two days.

This testing event will help determine the community spread of COVID-19 following the Thanksgiving holiday. Anyone who is concerned about their level of exposure should take this opportunity to protect themselves and their family members. Knowing the volume of new positive cases will help slow the spread as community members are asked to quarantine and take precautions.

This event is FREE and open to all, but is appointment-only to safely and efficiently accommodate as many people as possible. All testing will take place at two community locations:

• Samaritan’s Drive-Up Testing Site: 1575 Washington St. in Watertown, NY. Testing hours will be from 7:00am to 7:00pm on both days.
• Carthage Area Hospital: 1001 West St., Carthage, NY, using the back entrance off of West Street. Testing hours will be Monday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm and Tuesday from 9:00am to 7:00pm.

Results will be provided by NYS DOH’s lab vendor, BioReference, and will be provided within 2 to 3 days after tests are collected. This is not rapid testing.

Appointments must be requested by visiting Samaritan’s website at: www.samaritanhealth.com/covid-test. Patients without access to a computer or the internet should call the Samaritan Resource Line at 315-755-3100 to schedule an appointment. Anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms should not delay testing – symptomatic patients should immediately call the Samaritan Resource Line at 315-755-3100 or the Carthage Area Hospital COVID-19 Hotline at 315-519-5497.

Any community member who receives a positive test result will be contacted by Jefferson County Public Health, who will provide details and begin the process for contact tracing. Local public health officials have additional resources available from NYS to help aid in contact tracing.

Please remember that everyone has a role in helping to slow the spread of this disease. Wash your hands, wear your mask, social distance and avoid large crowds and non-emergent travel.