Dear CCI providers,
The Department of Public Health (DPH) is standing up remote specimen point of collection sites (SPOCS) around the state for COVID-19. The purpose of these sites is to collect specimens from mildly ill people (symptoms of respiratory illness (i.e., fever, cough, shortness of breath)) who do not require medical care or hospitalization and fall into one of the prioritized groups below. The specimens collected at these sites will be sent for testing at either a commercial laboratory or the Georgia Public Health Laboratory.
Per DPH and federal guidelines, the people who should be prioritized for testing at these remote Specimen Collection Centers include:
- Healthcare workers and other first responders who are critical for caring for our nation during this epidemic, and who frequently interact with vulnerable populations.
- People working with and caring for vulnerable populations, such as long-term care facility staff.
- People living in congregate settings where the disease can spread rapidly.
Due to limitations and availability of test kits, it is imperative that clinicians refer people to these sites that meet these guidelines. The attached documents explain the testing priorities for these sites and instructions for using the referral system:
The link to access the referral system is found on both documents and does not require a password. Thank you for all the work you are doing on the front lines of this pandemic.
You can find the most up to date COVID-19 information at https://www.cdc.gov/ and https://dph.georgia.gov/
