The City of Seattle will open a free walk-up COVID-19 testing site at Rainier Beach High School on Friday. It is the third free testing site the city has opened, with plans for a fourth site in southwest Seattle.
Starting August 7, the community testing site will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Unlike other sites opened by the city, this testing site is a walk-up and not a drive-through.
The city said they chose this area because officials realized there was a lack of testing nearby.
"It’s also adjacent to parts of the county that are experiencing a more significant spread of the disease at this time so we thought it was important to get a higher capacity volume of testing in this neighborhood," Lt. Brian Wallace from the Seattle Fire Department explained.
The testing is a cooperative effort between Seattle, King County Health, and UW Medicine. Seattle Firefighters will run the site in tents.