DC Expands Coronavirus Testing Hours, Adds Site At Nationals Park

WASHINGTON, D.C. — D.C. health officials are instituting scheduling and processing updates Monday that will make the District's public testing infrastructure for COVID-19 more robust, convenient and sustainable.

The updates include expanding the hours at citywide testing sites and opening an additional public testing center at Washington Nationals Park.

The Nationals Park site, located at GEICO Garage, 16 N St., S.E., will be open Monday-Friday, 2:30-7:30 p.m.

Firehouse testing sites will be open Monday-Friday, from 2:30-7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 12-4 p.m.

Hours will also be expanded at three of the District's free morning/daytime testing sites, which will be open 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. starting Monday:

• Judiciary Square, F Street, Northwest, between 4th and 5th Streets, Northwest.
• UDC-CC Bertie Backus Campus, 5171 South Dakota Ave., N.E.
• Anacostia, 2241 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.

Beginning on Monday, D.C. Department of Health officials will begin collecting health insurance information from anyone registering for a test at one of the District's public testing sites.

"Anyone who needs a test will be able to get a test for free," Mayor Muriel Bowser said, during a Wednesday press briefing. "No one will be turned away and no one will be charged a copay. But by collecting insurance information, we can make better use of District resources. Insurance companies should be paying for the tests and we want to make sure that we collect that information so that they might."

All of the District's COVID-19 testing sites will be closed on Thanksgiving. Instead, testing will be offered Sunday, Nov. 29, from 12-4 p.m., at the following firehouse testing sites:

• Engine 4, 2531 Sherman Ave., N.W.
• Engine 8, 1520 C St., S.E.
• Engine 10, 1342 Florida Ave., N.E.
• Engine 31, 4930 Connecticut Ave., N.W.

People can pre-register for a test at one of the District's testing sites at: coronavirus.dc.gov/register.

D.C. Health confirmed 213 new positive cases of COVID-19, the illness associated with the new coronavirus, on Thursday. That's more than the 156 cases reported on Wednesday. This brings the District's total number of positive cases to date to 19,678.

D.C. Health reported two new deaths Thursday due to COVID-19. The total number of deaths in the District stands at 667.

According to D.C. Health, 607, 834 coronavirus tests have been administered in the District, 282,214 residents have been tested, and 14,589 have been cleared from isolation.

The District currently has 43 intensive care unit beds available out of 345 total intensive care unit beds. There are currently 155 in-use ventilators out of a total of 285 available. Also, there are 34 COVID-19-positive ICU patients.

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Globally, more than 56.4 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and over 1.3 million people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Thursday morning. In the United States, more than 11.5 million people have been infected and over 250,000 people have died from COVID-19.

District residents should take the following actions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Also see ...

• Coronavirus Spread In Washington, DC: See Your Risk Of Exposure
• DC Coronavirus Update: 159 New Cases, No Additional Deaths
• DC Coronavirus Update: No Additional Deaths; 128 New Cases
• New Coronavirus Cases More Than Double In One Day
• DC Coronavirus Update: 2 Additional Deaths; 86 New Cases
• DC Coronavirus Update: 1 Additional Death; 86 New Cases
• DC Coronavirus Update: 2 Additional Deaths; 110 New Cases
• Travelers Must Be Tested For COVID-19 Before Visiting DC