May 8, 2020   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Mobile COVID-19 testing set for Forrest and Union counties

JACKSON, Miss., May 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Forrest and Union counties and surrounding communities can be tested for COVID-19 next week as the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi State Department of Health continue efforts to stem virus transmission by setting up one-day, drive-through collection sites.

These sites join other collections scheduled for Saturday, May 9, and next week, previously announced in Benton, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton, Jones, Winston, Neshoba and Sharkey counties.

Anyone can be tested who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat; or who has a known or potential exposure to someone confirmed with the virus.

Those who want to be tested must first get an appointment by going through a free screening from a UMMC clinician, either through the C Spire Health telehealth smartphone app or by phone. The fastest and easiest way to get screened and tested is with the C Spire Health app. It's available daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

The newest testing sites for Thursday, May 14:

    --  Forrest County: Vernon Dahmer Park, 1000 Country Club Road, Hattiesburg
    --  Union County: Union County Fairgrounds, 112 Fairgrounds Circle, New
        Albany

Previously announced testing sites for Saturday, May 9:

    --  Benton County: Benton County Courthouse, 190 Ripley Ave., Ashland
    --  Jasper County: Jasper County EMA, 37 W. Eighth Ave., Bay Springs

Previously announced testing sites for Monday, May 11:

    --  Montgomery County: Montgomery County Coliseum, 200 Recreation Park
        Drive, Winona
    --  Newton County: Facility Building, 177 Choctaw Circle, Conehatta

Previously announced testing sites for Tuesday, May 12:

    --  Jones County: Laurel Fairgrounds, 1457 Ellisville Boulevard, Laurel
    --  Winston County: Louisville Coliseum, 245 Ivy Ave., Louisville

Mobile COVID-19 testing set for Forrest and Union counties - Page 2

Previously announced testing sites for Wednesday, May 13:

    --  Neshoba County: Facility Building, 11350 Highway 491 North, Philadelphia
    --  Sharkey County: Rolling Fork Civic Center, 19719 Highway 61, Rolling
        Fork

Testing hours are noon-4 p.m. Only those with appointments will be tested.

Hundreds of people in Mississippi communities have taken advantage of the UMMC/MSDH drive-through collection sites. Those numbers include, as of the end of the day May 8, a total 1,715 people at 49 one-day testing states statewide, plus another 4,005 at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds, for a total of 5,744 tested.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi National Guard are partnering with UMMC and MSDH to coordinate mobile testing sites. UMMC and C Spire have partnered to make the screening free to all Mississippians.

Those without smartphones who want to be screened for testing can call (601) 496-7200.

During drive-through testing, health care professionals will collect specimen samples via a nose swab. Those being tested will not exit their vehicle. For more information about testing, click here.

About the University of Mississippi Medical Center
UMMC is the state's only academic medical center. Its education, research and health care missions share the objectives of improving the health of the state's population and eliminating health disparities. Located in Jackson.

UMMC encompasses seven health science schools, including medicine, nursing, health related professions, dentistry, pharmacy, graduate studies and population health. The Medical Center's health care enterprise includes the state's only Level I trauma center, only children's hospital, and only organ and bone marrow transplant program. The Medical Center also is home to a Telehealth Center of Excellence, one of two in the nation.

For more information, visit www.umc.edu and click here to view news and features stories produced by UMMC Communications and Marketing.

About C Spire
C Spire provides a full suite of world-class, customer-inspired dedicated Internet, IP Voice, data, managed services, cloud services, value added resale and mobile communications to businesses and wireless, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access and related home services for consumers. This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at twitter.com/cspire.

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