GASTONIA, N.C. — Gaston County DHHS, the city of Gastonia and Kintegra Health announced it'll continue staffing mobile COVID-19 testing sites in underserved communities through the end of May.
The extension came after Gastonia City Councilwoman Donyel Barber, who works for Kintegra Health, described a successful first week of testing.
"Our numbers were on target as it relates to the amount of people we wanted to reach daily," Barber said.
A total of 102 people got tested last week with one person testing positive for the virus and five other tests still pending.
The mobile testing sites began after Gastonia leaders saw a high number of cases in the city's Highland community, which is predominantly African American.
Like the rest of the nation, county health leaders said African Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Organizers hoped the testing sites would give them more numbers to work with, but last week, only 30 percent of those tested were African American and only seven Hispanic people total signed up for tests.
The other challenge organizers face is history as African Americans tend to not trust doctors and health experts following past cases of medical mistreatment, including, most prominently, the Tuskegee Syphilis study.
Barber and other organizers have been reaching out to churches in the community to encourage parishioners to get tested.
"We've been working trying to tear down those barriers," she said. "We have the best interest of our patients. That's first and foremost."
Those who want to get tested must call 704-874-3316 to make an appointment. The tests are for people with mild COVID-19 symptoms including cough, temperature above 100.4°, and those not feeling well.
Testing will take place between 10 am to 2 pm at the following locations:
- Monday: St. John’s Baptist Church (Bradford Heights) 1282 Bradford Heights Rd
- Tuesday: Kintegra Family Medicine (Highland Health Center) 609 N. Highland St
- Wednesday: Kintegra Family Medicine (Health Dept/Mountain View) 991 W. Hudson Blvd
- Thursday: Bradley Community Center 1200 Modena St
- Friday: Mt. Zion Restoration Church (North Myrtle Area) 2311 Crescent Ln
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