DPH urges Georgians to avoid Hospital Emergency Departments for COVID testing

The Department of Public Health is urging Georgians not to go to a hospital’s Emergency Department for COVID Testing.

According to a recent press release, the DPH advises Georgia residents to help keep hospital emergency departments open to treat medical emergencies, by seeking COVID testing elsewhere, unless you are experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms requiring urgent medical attention.

Asymptomatic individuals or individuals with mild symptoms should find testing sites other than hospital emergency departments.

COVID-19 testing locations are available throughout Georgia and can be found on the Georgia Department of Public Health website at dph.georgia.gov/covidtesting.

The DPH says they are working with its lab partners to expand testing hours and add testing sites; however, lines will continue to be long as thousands of Georgians want to get tested.

To help alleviate delays at testing sites, the DPH urges Georgians to register before going to a DPH test site.

Online registration will help alleviate back-ups at test sites and free up staff to do more testing if they aren’t doing registration paperwork.

The DPH says, COVID vaccination is available statewide and is the best tool for ending the pandemic and reducing the overwhelming strain on the healthcare system and healthcare providers.

To find a COVID vaccination location, visit dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine.

Additionally, basic prevention measures should continue to be followed to help prevent further spread of COVID-19 and mitigate outbreaks of infection, especially in public settings: wear a mask, physically distance, and wash your hands frequently with soap and water.