• By Todd Luck
• Posted Friday, January 21, 2022

New COVID-19 community testing sites to open in Winston-Salem

New COVID testing sites are opening up in Winston-Salem.

Galilee Missionary Baptist Church is hosting a new no-cost drive-thru COVID-19 testing site starting on Monday, Jan. 24. StarMed will be the state vendor operating the site. It will be open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The church is located at 4129 Northampton Drive. This is in addition to StarMed’s existing location at Union Baptist Church, 1200 Trade St NW, which is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. StarMed is a state-contracted testing provider that has been offering no-cost testing in the area throughout the pandemic. To pre-register for testing before your visit, go to https://starmed.care/.

Southeast Plaza Shopping Center is also hosting a new no-cost drive-thru COVID-19 testing site starting on Monday, Jan. 24. MAKO Medical will be the state vendor operating the site. It will be open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24, and then will start its normal hours on Friday, January 28, from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., when it'll be open Friday through Monday, until mid-February. The shopping center is located at 3067 Waughtown Street. To pre-register for testing before your visit, go to https://makomedical.com/.

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist announced the opening of a new testing site, in partnership with the City of Winston-Salem and Winston-Salem State University, starting Jan. 20. The site located at Bowman Gray Stadium (West Lot) will operate, weather permitting, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. through mid-February.

There are numerous other testing sites in the county. To find the closest one, visit https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/about-covid-19/testing. Free at home tests can also be ordered from the federal government at https://www.covidtests.gov/.

Please follow CDC guidance regarding when testing is needed and, when necessary, seek testing from a provider’s office, at a community testing site or with an at-home test. Do not go to the local emergency room for testing.

If you have symptoms, avoid being around other people. Close contacts that are not fully vaccinated should quarantine. Due to limited supply and high demand for testing, public health officials ask the public not to get a test if they do not meet the criteria to do so. A second COVID-19 test is not required to return to work.