County Launching Free COVID-19 Testing at Kiosks

Through a partnership with a California company, Arlington County will be offering no-charge, walk-up COVID-19 testing starting Wednesday.

The county announced the partnership this morning, in a press release (below). Los Angeles-based startup Curative has placed testing kiosks in two county-owned parking lots in south Arlington; both are set to open tomorrow, operating from 12-8 p.m. seven days per week.

The locations are:

• Aurora Hills Community Center (735 18th Street S.)
• Tucker Field at Barcroft Park (4200 S. Four Mile Run Drive)

The tests are performed at no cost or co-pay to the individual, but those with health insurance will have their insurance providers billed. Results are expected within 48-72 hours.

Curative has thousands of testing locations across the U.S., but the accuracy of the tests was questioned in a recent Food and Drug Administration advisory. As a result, the country’s most populous county has discontinued use of the tests.

“In the wake of a federal report that warned of false negative results, the use of Curative COVID-19 PCR tests is being discontinued at Los Angeles County-supported pop-up testing sites, the Department of Health Services said in a statement Sunday,” the NBC station in LA reported on Monday.

The press release from Arlington County is below.

To expand access to COVID-19 testing options, Arlington County is launching no-cost, kiosk-based testing sites, in partnership with the private testing company Curative.

The two testing sites, located in the parking lots of Aurora Hills Community Center (735 18th St. S.) and Tucker Field at Barcroft Park (4200 S. Four Mile Run Dr.) will open on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, continuing the County’s efforts to limit community spread and provide more testing options in areas disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Both locations, operated by Curative, will be open seven days a week, 12-8 p.m.

Tests are offered at no cost and do not require a doctor referral or government identification, regardless of insurance or immigration status. Participants will be asked for insurance information, if available, so insurance providers can be billed, but no co-pay from participants will be required. Walk-up testing is available, although residents are encouraged to make an appointment on the Curative website. Kiosk service is available in English and Spanish.

Curative, which operates more than 8,000 testing sites across the country, uses a mouth-swab test that is self-administered under the supervision of a Curative worker in a kiosk. The swab is then placed inside a biohazard bag and returned to the Curative worker. Swabs from the Arlington kiosks will be delivered each night to a lab in Washington, D.C. Test results will be sent electronically to patients within 48 to 72 hours.

Visit Curative’s website for Common Q&As and Advice. Contact Curative’s Customer Success team at [email protected] or 888-702-9042 for questions or additional assistance.

Video instructions on how to correctly self-perform the test, reducing the risk of inaccurate results, is below.

Photo courtesy Jane Green