From the Township of South Orange Village Office of Emergency Management:
On Friday, June 5, South Orange residents – symptomatic or asymptomatic – can be tested for COVID-19 at a drive-through location in the SOPAC parking lot.
The Township of South Orange Village, in partnership with The Smith Center for Infectious Diseases, will be holding the testing from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm for residents who want to be tested. The number of tests will be limited to 400.
The testing will be free to the public, no payment or insurance will be required. Residents will not need to pre-register. The swabbers will just need your name, contact info and date of birth.
Thus far, 617 South Orange residents have been tested, with 95 tests returning positive. Essex County as a whole has had over 17,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Residents should continue to check southorangecovid19.com for additional Coronavirus updates and residents who have not registered with the Village’s SO Alert emergency notification system are encouraged to do so here.
The Smith Center for Infectious Diseases and Urban Health, based in East Orange, was developed to address infectious diseases in the inner city. This non-profit center, which is initially focusing on HIV, recognizes that inner city patients face many unique challenges in their daily lives.
In 2020, the center formed The Swab Mob, which aims to increase proactive measures against COVID-19 by bypassing government and accomplishing the testing of people en masse by their peers. The center is able to acquire these tests through generous donations. More information, and a link to donate, can be found at smithcenternj.org.
We are all in this together and we remind residents to practice patience and understanding as we continue to deal with this pandemic.
