Free drive-thru COVID testing in Kennewick. What you need to know
Benton County residents can get free drive-thru testing for COVID-19 without crossing the bridges to Pasco starting Tuesday.
A new drive-thru testing site will open Jan. 5 at 1709 S. Ely St. in Kennewick, near the Kennewick Irrigation District building.
“It will be a benefit as winter comes along (and) the roads are icy,” said Erin Hockaday, operations chief at the Benton Frankliin Health District of COVID-19 response.
The new drive-thru testing site will be staffed by the same Washington National Guard members now staffing the HAPO Center testing site in Pasco.
After six months and about 16,000 test samples collected, the testing operation is moving to south Kennewick.
Drive thru testing will continue to be available at the second Pasco site at 3110 W. Argent Road by Columbia Basin College. It offers testing seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It has collected more than 42,000 test samples.
The new Tri-Cities testing site in Kennewick will keep the same hours as the HAPO site, Tuesdays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The move is expected to not only be more convenient for many Kennewick and Richland residents, but should improve efficiency for the National Guard.
The HAPO Center site is not fenced or secure, requiring daily set up and take down of tents and equipment.
The Benton County Commission previous agreed to allow testing at the Kennewick site — the old county roads shop on South Ely Street. There will be no charge to the Benton Franklin Health District to use the county property, but it will pay utility costs, according to the county.
Preregistration for the new Kennewick site can be done at wacovid19.org/kennewicktesting, once the site goes live. In the meantime, people who have preregistered for testing at the HAPO site for Jan. 5 and later should remember to go to the Kennewick site instead.
Holiday testing closure
Those who go to the Kennewick site will be given an individualized QR code when they are tested that they can use to receive electronic results within three days of testing, if not sooner.
Testing remains free of cost but providing an insurance card helps offset the cost of the service. Testing is available regardless of immigration status.
The HAPO Center site will be closed New Year’s Eve and Day. The CBC site will be closed only New Year’s Day.
For more information and to register for the free drive-thru sites, go to bit.ly/Tri-CitiesTesting. The same internet site also provides information on additional testing offered at clinics and pharmacies.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 10:57 AM.