The Georgia Department of Public Health will be closing its Camden County COVID-19 testing site due to a “significant decrease in demand,” according to a news release issued on Wednesday.
The release said Thursday, March 17 would be the last day of testing at the Dilworth Street testing site in St. Marys. Testing is widely available at various private providers in the community, such as medical offices and pharmacies. The federal government is also providing free home tests by mail for those who register online at covidtests.gov.
“We’ve done more than 5,000 COVID tests in Camden County over the last two years, and we’re proud to have served our community in this way,” said Dr. Lawton Davis, health director of the Coastal Health District. “There was a time when testing options were limited and demand was high. But the landscape has changed — demand has fallen sharply, and there are many other options for COVID testing in the area. It’s time for us to scale back, with the knowledge that if the situation changes in the future we can expand again if necessary.”
COVID testing by public health is also available six days a week in Glynn County on Kemble Avenue, across from the Emergency Care Center of Southeast Georgia Health System.
While the transmission rate for COVID-19 remains high in Camden County, deaths and hospitalizations associated with the recent surge have been comparatively lower than other surges during the pandemic.