ST PAUL, Minn. — A new site for COVID testing is opening in St. Paul, and while it will only be open for three weeks, the facility plans to do around 1,000 nasal-swab PCR tests a day.
The federally-operated facility is located at Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Building, 395 John Ireland Boulevard in St. Paul.
It opens at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and after opening day will operate from 7-4 p.m. every day.
Appointments are highly recommended, but they will be accepting a small number of walk-ins. The site will be free, and open to everyone. Staff on site will not collect any insurance information.
“Testing is one of our key tools against the highly contagious omicron variant,” said Governor Walz in a press release. “All Minnesotans deserve access to free, easy, and convenient testing to ensure our communities stay safe, our children can stay in school or child care, and our essential workers can continue to provide critical services. This new site will make more tests available as we confront the current surge in cases.”
The site will operate through Feb. 14. To guarantee a test, register directly with the testing provider or visit the state’s COVID-19 Community Testing Sites page.
Free parking available in the MnDOT Building Parking Ramp F, main level, at 424 Rice Street. The building is wheelchair accessible.
“We’re very grateful to our federal partners for this support,” said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm. “We continue to see unprecedented levels of COVID-19 in the community, and additional testing capacity will help Minnesotans quickly get the information they need to reduce spread.”
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