UPDATE | Where to get at-home COVID-19 test kits in the Valley
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County does not keep a wait list for at-home COVID-19 tests reserved through the library, as previously misstated to Mahoning Matters. Additionally, since publication, two new test kit giveaways have been announced. Read on for more information.]
City health officials couldn’t meet all the demand for free at-home COVID-19 test kits outside the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown. Some of the more than 1,000 cars waited for hours starting early Wednesday to receive up to four kits.
About 100 people still in line after supplies ran out can get their tests from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, at Wick Park, 260 Park Ave., Youngstown. Only people who received a small business card during the Covelli Centre giveaway Wednesday morning will be able to claim their four tests at Wick Park Thursday.
Incoming traffic must enter on Park Avenue via Fifth Avenue and will exit onto Elm Street, according to a release from Youngstown City Health District.
“There is a three-hour window and all cars that received the card will get the tests,” reads the release. “People do not need to line up early.”
Poland Township trustees are distributing at-home COVID-19 tests to Poland residents on Friday, Dec. 31, and Monday, Jan. 3, WFMJ reported Tuesday.
The test giveaway is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, until supplies run out. Proof of Poland residency is required.
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County plans to distribute 4,000 free at-home COVID-19 tests starting Monday, Jan. 3, through a partnership with Mahoning County Public Health, according to a news release from the Library.
Patrons must call 330-744-8636, starting Monday, to reserve up to four test kits. They’ll be available curbside at the following library branches:
Austintown Library, 600 S. Raccoon Road, Youngstown
Boardman Library, 7680 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown
Campbell Library, 436 Struthers Coitsville Road, Lowellville (set to reopen Jan. 2)
Canfield Library, 43 W. Main St., Canfield
Poland Library, 311 S. Main St., Poland
Sebring Library, 195 W. Ohio Ave., Sebring
Springfield Library, 10418 Main St., New Middletown
Struthers Library, 95 Poland Ave., Struthers
Tri-Lakes Library, 13820 Mahoning Ave., North Jackson
“If patrons are ill, experiencing symptoms or have been exposed to someone that is ill or experiencing symptoms, they should not come into the library to get a kit. Please send a family member or friend to pick up the test kit(s)“ reads the release. “As always, the Library recommends that patrons consult with their physician for personal health questions or assessments.”
Soaring demand for testing
Mahoning Valley residents have been trying to get their hands on at-home coronavirus tests since COVID-19 cases began surging in September, a local library official said.
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County receives at-home COVID-19 tests each week through the Ohio Department of Health and distributes them to its 15 branches, spokesperson Maggie Henderson said. Demand for those tests has soared since September, she said.
“I know the Boardman [library] got 36 tests [Tuesday morning], and I believe they are already out and that has been the pattern since we started this partnership with ODH,” she said.
Since that partnership began in March, the libraries have distributed more than 17,000 COVID-19 tests to Mahoning Valley residents — most of them in the last four months, Henderson said.
“Folks were getting them in the spring before vaccines were widely available, and then it kind of tapered off,” she said. “In September, things picked back up and basically since then, every time we get a shipment in, they tend to be gone within a matter of hours, if not a few days.”
Henderson said patrons can call ahead to reserve up to four at-home COVID-19 tests, but they’ll have to keep calling the library regularly at 330-744-8636 to find out when the tests have been restocked.
“We can take their name and number down and we can reserve up to four [tests],” she said.
It’s not that the library doesn’t have enough tests to distribute — “it’s just that the increase in people needing the tests has been so great. … It’s kind of a perfect storm,” Henderson said.
She said ODH doesn’t offer advance notice for each week’s shipments, so they don’t know which day to expect them. She said people should call each branch separately before making a trip to the library.
Library cards aren’t required to receive a free test, she said.
Omicron is now dominant
The highly contagious omicron variant is now leading new infections statewide. It’s responsible for 92% of Ohio’s new COVID-19 cases as of Friday, Mercy Health’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. James Kravec told Mahoning Matters Monday, citing state health department data.
ODH on Tuesday reported more than 15,000 new COVID-19 cases statewide. That includes 676 new cases in the Mahoning Valley: 311 new cases in Mahoning County (for a total of 40,011), 247 in Trumbull (31,111) and 118 in Columbiana (18,651).
The average seven-day rate of positive coronavirus tests in Ohio continued climbing Tuesday to 24.7% — the highest it’s been since the pandemic began. The state’s previous all-time high was 23.6% on April 20, 2020, amid COVID-19’s first wave.
President Joe Biden this month announced the federal government will buy 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests and distribute them to people’s homes starting early January, the Associated Press reported.
The purchase will be made with the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Biden signed in March.
It will still take several weeks before the test kits are available for shipping. A new government website will be available for people to request test kits.
Find a test near you
Mahoning Matters called around and, as of Tuesday afternoon, the Leetonia Community Public Library, 181 Walnut St., was the only state-partnered location in the Mahoning Valley that still had tests available.
There are 22 public library and community centers across Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties that receive at-home COVID-19 tests from the state, according to the ODH COVID-19 dashboard.
A library representative said each recipient is allowed up to four COVID-19 tests, and cars can drive around the back of the building to the drive-up window to pick up tests.
Here’s a list of locations around the Valley where COVID-19 tests are regularly distributed, as reported on the Ohio Department of Health’s dashboard, as well as the two giveaways set for this week:
Mahoning County
Youngstown City Health District giveaway
Covelli Centre, 229 E. Front St., Youngstown
- Today beginning at 8 a.m.
Poland Township giveaway
Poland Township Government building, 3339 Dobbins Road Poland
- Friday, Dec. 31, and Monday, Jan. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., while supplies last
Mahoning County Public Health Department, 50 Westchester Drive, Youngstown, 330-270-2855
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, 330-744-8636
- Austintown Library, 600 S. Raccoon Road, Youngstown
- Boardman Library, 7680 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown
- Brownlee Woods Library, 4010 Sheridan Road, Youngstown
- Campbell Library, 436 Struthers Coitsville Road, Lowellville (set to reopen Jan. 2)
- Canfield Library, 43 W. Main St., Canfield
- East Library, 430 Early Road, Youngstown
- Greenford Library, 7441 W. South Range Road, Greenford
- Main Library, 305 Wick Ave., Youngstown
- Michael Kusalaba Library, 2815 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown
- Newport Library, 3730 Market St., Youngstown
- Poland Library, 311 S. Main St., Poland
- Sebring Library, 195 W. Ohio Ave., Sebring
- Springfield Library, 10418 Main St., New Middletown
- Struthers Library, 95 Poland Ave., Struthers
- Tri-Lakes Library, 13820 Mahoning Ave., North Jackson
Trumbull County
Newton Falls Public Library, 204 S. Canal St., Newton Falls, 330-872-1282
McKinley Memorial Library, 40 N. Main St., Niles, 330-652-1704
Kinsman Free Public Library, 6420 Church St., Kinsman, 330-876-2461
Columbiana County
Leeper Library, 303 E. Lincoln Way, Lisbon, 330-424-3117
Leetonia Community Public Library, 181 Walnut St., Leetonia, 330-427-6635
East Palestine Memorial Public Library, 309 N. Market St., East Palestine, 330-426-3778
Columbiana Public Library, 332 N. Middle St., Columbiana, 330-482-5509
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.