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DeKalb County Board of Health setting up permanent testing in COVID-19 hot spot locations

By
Updated  May 4, 2020 9:48pm EDT
Coronavirus in Georgia
FOX 5 Atlanta

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - In a few days, Ashley McDonald will finally have a clear conscious.

She'll know if she has COVID-19.

"I've been having a cough, and you know, I've been out and about," McDonald explained.

She told me she’s uninsured and has been turned away from other testing sites.

"I just came from Grady earlier today and they said they won't testing unless they were deathly ill," she told FOX 5's Brian Hill.

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McDonald was one of more than 500 people who lined up to get tested Monday at The House of Hope Atlanta in Decatur.

This was a partnership between the church, the Dekalb County Board of Health and the Governor's Office.

"Now that we have zip code level data, we're able to identify those zip codes that are specifically high with numbers of positive tests," Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford, the District Health Director, explained.

She told us there are a number of reasons why these locations are hot spots.

"A lot of it has to do with access. The first test opportunities we had you had to be referred by a physician, so if you didn't have a primary care doctor then you weren't going to be able to get a test. That's one reason. I think that for a long time there was a belief that this wasn't an African American disease because it started in China," Dr. Ford explained.

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Know how the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting Georgia

She told us the board of health is planning on setting up a permanent testing site in all six hot spot locations.

"So this is a one-day event at House of Hope. We will be identifying sites in those six key zip codes in the next, actually, by the middle of this week and we'll have sites set up permanent sites so that folks can come and get tested," Dr. Ford explained.

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Monday's testing was free and insurance was not required.

"I came out and get tested for my job I work for the United States Postal Service," Aran Strode detailed." So I just want to make sure that I'm safe."

While everyone here is hoping for the best, they are prepared to self-isolate if results come back positive.

RELATED: CoronavirusNOW.com, FOX launches national hub for COVID-19 news and updates.

Live map: Tracking coronavirus in Georgia

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