(Johnston) Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at her daily press conference on Tuesday morning announced a new initiative called TestIowa. The initiative dramatically increases the rate of COVID-19 testing to help stem the spread of COVID-19 and get the state back to normal as quickly as possible.
Governor Reynolds says TestIowa will make available 540,000 COVID tests to increase the state’s testing capacity by up to 3,000 additional tests per day. She says the initiative will also help the state gather critical information from Iowans to help health official’s better target the hotspots and fight the virus.
First go to testiowa.com and answer a few questions to determine your current risk to provide the Iowa Department of Public Health and government leaders insight into the state’s collective health.
The IDPH cannot test everyone, but they’ll prioritize testing for those who currently have symptoms, have interacted with someone who has already tested positive, or have recently visited places where COVID-19 is more widespread. The State will them confirm a time slot for your test and direct you to a drive-through testing location.
Finally, if a person tests positive, health officials will answer some questions to help isolate the infection rate, for example, who they might have been in contact with and where they have traveled. The information is confidential.
Governor Reynolds is encouraging all Iowans to go to TestIowa.com regardless of symptoms to take the assessment and get tested if needed. Those people that are part of the essential workforce are especially encouraged to take the assessment and then get tested if needed.
The Iowa Events Center in Des Moines will be a testing location on Saturday.
