Chickasaw, Jefferson counties set for April 14 mobile COVID-19 testing

JACKSON, Miss., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Chickasaw and Jefferson counties and surrounding communities can be tested Tuesday, April 14, for COVID-19 as the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi State Department of Health continue efforts to stem virus transmission statewide by setting up drive-through collection sites.

The locations for the latest one-day, appointment-only collection sites are:

• Chickasaw County – Chickasaw Agri Center, 800 Starkville Road in Houston

• Jefferson County – Fayette High School, 2277 Main St., Fayette

Ongoing testing at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds will be suspended for one day on Sunday due to expected inclement weather and in observance of the Easter holiday. Collections there resume on Monday and continue seven days a week, weather permitting.

Hundreds of people in Mississippi communities have taken advantage of the UMMC/MSDH drive-through collection sites. Those numbers include 85 people in Olive Branch, 25 in Clarksdale, 55 in Vicksburg, 49 in Greenwood, 61 in Meridian, 110 in Natchez, 57 in Carriere, 33 in Ripley, 59 in Moss Point, 18 in Raleigh, 25 in Eupora, 50 in Clinton and 1,903 at the Mississippi Fairgrounds in Jackson.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the Mississippi National Guard are partnering with UMMC and MSDH to coordinate mobile testing sites.

Anyone experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, including fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat, who feels they should be tested must first go through a free screening from a UMMC clinician through the C Spire Health UMMC Virtual COVID-19 Triage telehealth smartphone app. UMMC and C Spire have partnered to make the screening free to all Mississippians.

Mississippians who are screened as being at high risk for having COVID-19 are given an appointment at a testing site to provide a specimen sample, via a nose swab, without exiting their vehicle.

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.

Those using the C Spire Health app will be given an appointment if a medical provider determines their level of risk for COVID-19 is high. They'll be asked questions about symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. UMMC will contact those tested with their results.

Those without smartphones can call (601) 496-7200. Anyone not experiencing symptoms is asked not to use the app or call.

Anyone determined to be at low risk for infection will receive instructions on social distancing, home isolation and self-care – and told to call back if symptoms worsen.

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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SOURCE C Spire