RCAHD to Transition Community Testing Center at Valley View Mall to Mobile Testing

Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts to
Transition Community Testing Center at Valley View Mall to Mobile Testing

(ROANOKE, Va.) – The Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD) today announced that the final day of regular operation of the Community Testing Center (CTC) at Valley View Mall was last Thursday, February 10.

Moving forward, a vendor-operated van with testing staff will travel throughout the region in support of expanding free testing to communities that have low access to testing. The new initiative (called “CTC+”) will allow the flexibility to create free testing opportunities at different locations based on community needs, especially in more rural areas.

CTC+ testing sites will be announced each week. These locations (as well as additional testing opportunities at local pharmacies, medical providers, and more) can be found:

⦁ online at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/protect-yourself/covid-19-testing 
⦁ by calling VDH at 877-ASK-VDH3 or our local COVID hotline at (540) 613-6597

The testing vendor will offer free Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing for COVID-19 to individuals 3 months and older. PCR test results are usually available within a few days, and are very effective in detecting an active COVID-19 infection, even if asymptomatic.

The new testing initiative will be in addition to other existing testing activities offered in the community. Testing remains an important tool to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. It is important to understand when one needs to seek testing. More detail about reasons to get tested for COVID-19 can be found online at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/testing.html

Note: The Valley View Vaccination Center is not affected by this transition. It continues to offer free vaccines to the community in the former Sears location, Monday-Saturday, 8am-6pm.