West Houston News

Spring Branch District issued the following announcement on Dec.31.

The Houston Health Department and its agency partners are announcing the schedule for sites offering free COVID-19 tests the week of January 4, 2020. Twenty-four FREE+FAST+SAFE testing sites across Houston are on the schedule for the week.

The Aldine area will benefit from two COVID-19 testing sites set up this week by the Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health. The zip code 77037 within Aldine remains among the 15 Houston zip codes with the highest COVID-19 positivity rate.

The two drive-thru sites and their hours of operation are:

• Cathedral of Saint Matthew, 9101 Airline Drive, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, nasal swab by a nurse. Registration is available at hcphtx.org or 832-927-7575.
• Assumption Catholic Church, 901 Roselane, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, self-nasal swab. No appointment is required.

Houston Health Department

The Houston Health Department will offer drive-thru testing at two surge sites affiliated with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Southwest Multi-Service Center, 6400 High Star Drive, and Houston Community College – North Forest, 6010 Little York Rd., will offer nasal self-swab tests.

The sites will open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Appointments are available at doineedacovid19test.com and on-site registration is also available. Each site has a daily capacity of 1,250 tests.

The department also offers free drive-thru testing via self-nasal swab at the Aramco Services Company, 9009 W. Loop South. The mega testing site will open Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The site has a daily capacity of 1,000 tests.

People wanting to get tested at the Aramco site can call the department’s COVID-19 Call Center at 832-393-4220.

The department will offer testing at two community sites that don’t require appointments and open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or until each reaches its daily capacity of 250 tests:

• Holy Ghost Catholic Church, 6921 Chetwood Drive, drive thru and walk up, self-nasal swab, and
• Hiram Clark Multi-Service Center, 3810 W. Fuqua St., drive thru and walk up, self-nasal swab.

The department will provide self-nasal swab testing at the METRO Addicks Park & Ride, 14230 Katy Freeway, and the Multicultural Center, 951 Tristar Drive, city of Webster. Appointments are available by calling the department’s call center at 832-393-4220.

Texas Division of Emergency Management

Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Houston Astros offer self-oral swab tests daily at Minute Maid Park (Lot C), 2208 Preston. The testing site’s capacity is 1,200 tests per day.

The site features eight drive-thru testing lanes and four walk-up testing lanes. It will open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Spanish-speaking staff is available on-site.

Visit curative.com to set an appointment or obtain more information. On-site registration is also available.

TDEM and the department will also operate drive-thru sites offering tests Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at:

• HCC – Northeast Campus, 555 Community College Drive, self-mouth swab tests, and
• HCC – South Campus, 1990 Airport Blvd., nasal swab tests by healthcare professionals.

TDEM and the department offer drive thru, nasal-swab tests administered by healthcare professionals at LeRoy Crump Stadium, 12321 Alief Clodine Rd. The site is open Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Appointments for TDEM sites are available at covidtest.tdem.texas.gov. On-site registration is also available.

United Memorial Medical Center

United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) will offer nasal-swab testing by healthcare professionals at drive-thru test sites at:

• Plaza Americas Mall, 7500 Bellaire Blvd.,
• Houston Community College – Southeast, 6815 Rustic, and
• UMMC Tidwell, 510 W. Tidwell Rd.

The sites don’t require appointments and will offer testing Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until reaching daily capacity of 300 tests.

People needing information about UMMC test sites can call 1-866-333-COVID or visit ummcscreening.com.

Curative

Curative will provide walk up, self-mouth swab tests daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at three locations, each with a 900 daily test capacity:

• Memorial Park Running Trails Center, 7575 N. Picnic Lane
• Kroger, 1801 S. Voss Rd.
• Kroger, 9303 S. Highway 6
• Kroger, 6322 Telephone Rd.
• Food Town, 2770 N. Sam Houston Parkway West
• Food Town, 8800 W. Sam Houston Parkway South, and
• Food Town, 9725 Fondren Rd.

Appointments are required and available at curative.com.

Federally Qualified Health Centers

The health department is providing test kits, lab access and equipment to local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) so they can expand their COVID-19 testing capacity. The centers and phone numbers people can call to set up testing appointments are:

• HOPE Clinic, 713-773-0803
• Spring Branch Community Health Center, 713-462-6565
• El Centro de Corazon, 713-660-1880
• Avenue 360 Health and Wellness, 713-426-0027
• Lone Star Circle of Care at the University of Houston, 346-348-1200, and
• Scarsdale Family Health Center, 281-824-1480.

FQHC patients pay what they can afford, based on income and family size, and are not denied services due to inability to pay or lack of insurance.

The department and its agency partners may shift locations and schedules of test sites to better meet community needs. Houstonians can visit HoustonEmergency.org/covid19 for current Houston testing sites and information about stopping the spread of the virus.

Information obtained through testing, treatment or services will not be used against immigrants in their public charge evaluation.

Original source can be found here.