A Focus On Increasing Availability of COVID-19 Testing In Vulnerable Areas
DALLAS — As COVID-19 positive numbers continue to rise in Dallas County, the city works on increasing the availability of COVID-19 testing. Two new COVID-19 Neighborhood Testing Centers will open next week in Dallas.
One site will be located at the Literacy Achieves campus in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood of northeast Dallas. Another will be located at Paul Quinn College in southeast Dallas.
Dr. Kelvin Baggett, Mayor Eric Johnson’s COVID-19 Health and Healthcare Access Czar, and the City’s Office of Emergency Management coordinated the Neighborhood Testing Centers, which are part of the strategic effort to bring more targeted testing to Dallas.
Mayor Johnson and Dr. Baggett have been focused on providing equity in the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Testing availability and contact tracing are the keys to both our public health response and our economic recovery,” Mayor Johnson said. “These Neighborhood Testing Centers will provide a major boost to our efforts. I am especially pleased that these sites will help our underserved communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of this pandemic.”
Dr. Baggett leads an alliance of private and public sector partners who are trying to increase testing for Dallas residents. The Vickery Meadow site, which have the capacity for 250 tests a day, will be funded through private donations during the first two weeks. The Texas National Guard is partnering with the City of Dallas to provide the testing at the Paul Quinn campus.
“COVID-19 has challenged our community in unprecedented ways,” Dr. Baggett said. “As we gain access to needed resources, such as testing, it’s imperative that we deploy them in the areas that have the greatest need. More testing is beneficial, but strategic testing is what will prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in Dallas.”
More Neighborhood Testing Centers will be announced soon
Announcements about the precise dates and times of operation for the Paul Quinn and Vickery Meadow sites will be provided in the coming days. The two sites will be available to all essential workers, people who have symptoms of COVID-19, people who are age 65 or older, and people who have underlying health conditions.
For more information about the City of Dallas COVID-19 response efforts, visit DallasCityHall.com/coronavirus
