Another free COVID-19 testing event will be held today at a DeKalb County church.
The event will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. at The House of Hope Atlanta, located at 4650 Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur.
Testing is free and open to everyone — but pre-registration is required.
Registration can be completed by visiting dekalbhealth.net or by calling 404-294-3700 and selecting Option 1.
The event is a partnership between the DeKalb County Board of Health, the Georgia Department of Public Health, House of Hope Atlanta and the Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force Community Outreach Committee, which is co-chaired by Dr. Bernice King and Leonardo Smith.
Monday's event is the second in a week at House of Hope Atlanta. a total of 538 and comes a few days after Gov. Brian Kemp encouraged all Georgians to get screened for COVID-19, whether or not they've exhibited symptoms.
DeKalb County has the second-highest number of confirmed virus cases in Georgia. As of Monday morning, 69 COVID-19 deaths had been confirmed in DeKalb.
Zip code-level data provided by the local health department suggests the county reflects larger nationwide trends, with areas with higher levels of poverty and larger black populations feeling the brunt of the virus.
Racial data was not available for about 37% of DeKalb County’s COVID-19 cases. But as of last week, African Americans accounted for some 63% of cases where a patient’s race was known.
A total of 538 tests were conducted during last week’s event at House of Hope. A DeKalb health department spokesman said Monday’s event will be equipped to handle “far beyond” that number, if need be.
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