A sign at Berth 3 directs traffic to COVID-19 drive-up testing (KRBD staff photo by Maria Dudzak).
Free drive-up COVID-19 testing in Ketchikan will resume Thursday at a new location: the parking lot of the Alaska Marine Highway System terminal. The new state-sponsored drive-up site replaces a locally-run testing clinic at Berth 3, which shut down last month.
Testing at the new site will be available daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Patients can also now expect to get their results immediately after the test. They will be asked to remain at the testing site until the 15-minute rapid test has completed. People previously received results within a few days.
These changes come after the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services assumed responsibility for free COVID-19 testing from the Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center on June 26th. The EOC is preparing to disband later this month, though local officials say they could reactivate the interagency pandemic response center if virus cases surge. The state has contracted with Anchorage-based Beacon Occupational Health and Safety Services to run the new drive-up site.
Several local clinics also provide testing for a fee.
The address of the new drive-up testing site at the AMHS terminal is 3501 Tongass Ave., and the mobile testing trailer will be in Lane 7. And for questions about the new site, call 907-375-4381.
There’s more information about COVID-19 testing on the borough’s website.
