MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Free COVID 19 testing is being offered in Morgan and Berkeley counties this weekend after both counties reached orange status on the state Coronavirus color-coded map.
“With counties being in orange status, we’re required to do a testing site each and every day of the week until the point that we can go back to gold,” according to Bill Kearns of the Berkeley/Morgan County Health Departments.
He says health care partners and help from state resources like the National Guard are helping make it happen.
Speaking to the Panhandle News Network at a voter safety presentation with the Secretary of State Mac Warner, Kearns said the state is covering the cost of testing and those coming to be tested do not have to pay or show insurance. They also do not have to be exhibiting symptoms.
“Our testing sites are open free of charge for anyone to come through those. We do advertise those locally on our social media pages (with) where the testing sites and times are going to be. We do ask them to bring an ID with them so we know the county residents, because if they’re not in Berkeley County – if (they are in) a different county, if their test results come back positive, those would be referred to the county of origin,” Kearns said.
The Morgan County Health Department is offering free Community Covid 19 Drive-Thru Testing Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 2:00 til 6:00 in in the Warm Springs Middle School Parking Lot in Berkeley Springs.
Berkeley County continues its testing Saturday at Musselman High School at 126 Excellence Way in Inwood and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
As of Friday, the state DHHR reported a cumulative total of 1,349 cases in Berkeley County and 93 in Morgan County. That represents a jump of 34 cases in a day for Berkeley County and four additional cases in Morgan County from the previous day.
Kearns and other health officials were on hand Friday at Berkeley County’s Voter Registration Office as Secretary of State Mac Warner talked about voter safety and ballot security ahead of Wednesday’s kick-off to early voting in the state.
Kearns will once again be a poll worker, as he has been since the 1990s. He says his office is committed to keeping voters safe.
Early voting wraps up Oct. 31.