Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

As announced last week, the Snohomish Health District will continue surveillance testing at several long-term care facilities around the County. It is also opening up some limited testing in the south county area beginning later this week.

Testing will be in the back parking lot at the Health District's south county office located at 6101 200th St SW in Lynnwood. Appointments are now available beginning at 9 a.m. with the last appointment at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29.

Slots will be opened up on Wednesday for Friday, May 1.

This community-based testing site is being operated by the Snohomish Health District, with volunteer support from the Medical Reserve Corps. The Snohomish Health District is piloting plans for smaller operations that are more mobile. This means there will be less appointments available, particularly on Wednesday.

The team will monitor operations and make adjustments for Friday's availability. Details are also being finalized to take these mobile operations to more locations around Snohomish County in May. Updates and additional information is available at http://www.snohd.org/drive-thru-testing.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Testing is by appointment only. Only those who are sick and have developed one of the following symptoms within the last 14 days will be eligible to register:

-Fever greater than 100.4 degrees;

-Cough;

-Difficulty breathing;

-Chills;

-Repeated shaking with chills;

-Muscle pain;

-Headache;

-Sore throat; or

-New loss of taste or smell.

This testing option is not meant to replace or eliminate other testing avenues offered by many local healthcare providers. The goal is to supplement those options in order to ease some of the pressure on the existing system.

People should still contact their medical provider for guidance and assessment if they have any of these symptoms or other health concerns. For medical emergencies, they should call 911 and notify the dispatch personnel that they may have COVID-19.

REGISTRATION AND APPOINTMENT PROCESS

A website has been set up at https://redcap.link/Snohomish-COVID19-Testing where people will be asked a series of screening questions and, if they meet testing criteria, will be given an appointment time and a testing identifier number. If there are multiple people who will be coming in the same vehicle to be tested, each of them needs to answer the questions and get an individual number.

People who are being tested should arrive 15 minutes before their appointment, and they will remain in their cars the entire time. Individuals must have an appointment, a testing identifier number and photo ID ready when arriving at the testing site. Those tested will receive instructions about results and symptom monitoring at the end of their appointment.

CLARIFICATION ON FARMERS MARKETS

All matters connected to COVID-19 have been and will continue to be, very fluid. At the time our guidelines for farmers markets were published, flower farmers were not identified at the state level as an essential service. Our operational guidelines for farmers markets were updated today, and are now available online.

We have encouraged market managers and vendors to remain flexible throughout the market season. If there are questions on which vendors can be included, managers or vendors have been provided with an online form to request clarification from the Governor's office. Note that the list of essential services may expand or contract over time. As long as vendors are eligible, they may sell at farmers markets provided the vendors and market managers operate according to an approved plan.

The health and safety of Snohomish County remains our top priority. We will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners to guide and inform our decisions.

The community is encouraged to help prevent the spread of illness and to support the response to this outbreak by staying informed and sharing reliable information. This is a very fluid situation and information will be updated at http://www.snohd.org/ncov2019 and the Health District's social media channels.