Kroger Health has expanded its free COVID-19 drive-thru testing program into new locations in Colorado, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. These states join Kentucky — which launched its sites in early April — to create a total of five states now offering free COVID-19 testing. (Tennessee had also launched some locations in early April.)
Kroger says it has tested more than 2,600 people in Kentucky to date.
The new testing locations are in Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Bowling Green, Lexington, Louisville and Owensboro, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and Dayton and Toledo, Ohio.
Testing is free for priority groups: health care workers, first responders, high-risk groups and those with symptoms. Kroger says, "the company will begin piloting site-specific testing for Kroger associates in Michigan and Colorado, while also empowering its own pharmacists to initiate the lab order and observe self-administered testing where allowable by applicable law."
"At Kroger Health, we are proud to be part of the solution by enabling more Americans — including our own associates — to have access to testing while continuing to provide a safe environment within our stores. We welcome this opportunity to expand our efforts in our nation's battle against COVID-19," said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, in a release. "We know widespread testing is critical to containing the spread of COVID-19 and flattening the curve."
The closest testing locations to Cincinnatians are at Summit View Academy at 5006 Madison Pike, Independence, Kentucky and at Kettering Medical Center, 3535 Southern Blvd., Dayton, Ohio.
For testing, patients arrive at a testing facility and remain in their cars, where they will be given a testing kit. Patients will then use self-administered nasal swabs to collect a specimen. According to Kroger, these collection kits are less painful and designed to increase safety.
To see if you qualify for a test, you can log on to krogerhealth.com/covidtesting and follow the prompts. The questions for the screening were adapted from the CDC. If you qualify, you can schedule and pre-register for a test at a location that is most convenient for you.
"I'm so proud of our health care professionals for rising to the challenge and leading with humility, passion, and resolve," continued Lindholz. "It's been a collaborative effort from our multi-disciplinary team — supported by great partnerships with local, state, and federal government officials — to open these testing sites and expand them around the country. We are all so grateful to do our part to help our communities."
