CULLMAN, Ala. – A drive-thru COVID-19 test site has been set up at the Cullman County Agricultural Trade Center by local physician Jeremy Stidham. The site will be open at 8:30 each morning and will operate until each day’s worth of test kits has been used.
The site is not affiliated with Cullman Internal Medicine or Cullman Regional. Despite a campaign video published Friday morning, the site is not affiliated with the Cullman County Commission. The commission simply granted use of the facility.
The testing is not free. Patients with insurance will be charged $50, and patients without insurance will be charged $175 by the laboratory. The tests are being processed by a private laboratory in Trussville. Stidham said test results could take 5-7 days. Patients will be notified by phone of their results.
“As private laboratories have developed testing supplies in mass, private screening will become more widely available but will require a fee,” said Stidham. “These private laboratories will bring in hundreds of thousands of tests to our city that we would otherwise not have access to.”
The site will open at 8:30 Saturday morning. Friday was the first day of testing, but it was not announced beforehand.
“It’s open to anyone who wants to be tested,” said Stidham. “It will be open at 8:30 in the mornings for the foreseeable future, but testing supplies will be limited every day, and the amount we are able to get every day will probably be a little different. We do not know on a daily basis how many tests will be available.”
Stidham said several people came out for testing Friday morning.
“We intentionally did not advertise that we would be here because we wanted to avoid any potential chaos,” he said, “but despite that, there’s been a significant number of folks who are interested in being tested. Anyone who is interested in knowing the results of the test is encouraged to come, of course, but the best person to have this test done would be someone with possible exposures or other concerns for their test results.”
The Cullman County Agricultural Trade Center is located at 17645 U.S. Highway 31, Cullman, AL 35058.
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