DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan Wednesday announced an expansion of COVID testing in the city as Michigan grapples with a fourth surge of the virus.
During the press conference, the mayor spoke about the omicron variant and the increase in cases. "One out of three people to get tested has tested positive in the past two weeks," says Duggan. According to the city's statistics, positive cases went from 15% to 33% in the past two weeks. Duggan says that the City of Detroit has to adapt their strategies to what they are seeing.
"We have opened two rapid test centers for Detroiters," says Duggan. The two testing sites are Joesph Walker Williams Community Center and Huntington Place, formerly the TCF Center. Duggan said they're able to handle 1,000 appointments a day with the addition of the Huntington Place site.
Antigen testing will be available at Huntington Place Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. while rapid molecular tests will be available at the Joseph Walker Williams Community Center Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The mayor mentioned that the Joseph Walker Williams Community Center off of Rosa Parks Blvd will be converted to a drive-thru testing site that will offer same-day testing.
“We are providing 1,000 free rapid COVID-19 tests per day to help Detroiters stay safe,” said Mayor Mike Duggan in a press release. “We are streamlining the testing process, to make it fast and efficient, so Detroiters who make an appointment can get in and out of either location in under an hour.”
To get a COVID-19 test done, you need to make an appointment and live or work in Detroit. Vaccinations are free. To schedule an appointment, call 313-230-0505.
During the conference, Duggan reminds the public that there are 12 vaccination sites in the city. Vaccinations are available Monday - Saturday. To check out vaccination locations, head over to detroitmi.gov.
When it comes to vaccination distribution, the mayor said that "41 nursing homes and ten homeless shelters in the area received 8,000 COVID-19 tests."
Detroit city workers that are not vaccinated are still required to get tested every two weeks. The mayor said in the conference that the "COVID-19 responses have all been federally funded and that funding hasn't been an issue."
When asked whether the city would enforce a mask mandate, Duggan responded that the city would follow whatever mandate is done by the state.
"There's no place in the county where it's easier to get a vaccine or get a test," said Duggan. "At the end of the day, people are making their own choices."
