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The Oklahoma State Department of Health, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, anounced on Tuesday that free COVID-19 testing will be coming to Oklahoma beginning this Saturday and running through Saturday, December 19^th. This is part of a public-private partnership with eTrueNorth and state and local officials.

These surge testing efforts will help to temporarily increase federal support in communities having a major uptick in cases and hospitalizations. Oklahoma Health Commissioner Lance Fre made the following comment regarding the free testing coming to oklahoma:

“Across the country, we are experiencing aggressive, rapid and expanding community spread of COVID-19, including here in Oklahoma. We must do everything we can to flatten the curve, to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies. Focused testing is key to interrupting the current surge, including the identification of asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals.”

There are currently no free testing sites coming to northeast Oklahoma, but they will be at the Payne County Health Department in Stillwater this Saturday and the following Saturday as well from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tests will be conducted using the nasal swab and are conducted via appointment only.