Salem 'Stop The Spread' Walk-Up Test Location Expands Hours

SALEM, MA — The free state-run "Stop the Spread" coronavirus walk-up test site in Salem will expand its hours for October as the city prepares for an influx of Halloween-season tourists.

The expanded hours will help accommodate the city's monthlong coronavirus negative test order to attend indoor events with 100 or more guests at venues open to the public. The mandate begins on Oct. 1 and expires at midnight on Oct. 31.

The free site at St. Peter's Church will now be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. That site provides the PCR COVID-19 test with results emailed within one to three days. No proof of insurance or citizenship is needed for these tests.

This site — as well as the "Stop the Spread" site at Salem High School — is in addition to the rapid test sites that will be open at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Curative — which ran the mass vaccination site at the Danvers DoubleTree Hotel — will administer the free tests at the PEM's Connect Building on Essex Street. The site will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays beginning Sept. 30 through Oct. 30. The site will also be open on Halloween until 5 p.m.

PCR tests have generally proved more accurate than the rapid test, which Salem Health Agent David Greenbaum said has about a 75 accuracy rate.

Salem also has an indoor mask mandate, which began on Aug. 23 and is set to expire on Nov. 13.

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: Salem Indoor Event Coronavirus Test Order: What You Need To KnowSalem

Mayor Pushes Coronavirus Test Mandate For Big Indoor Events

Salem Halloween 2021: Tourists Welcome, But Mask Up Indoors

Masks Are Back Inside Salem Businesses: What You Need To Know