Mercer County, in partnership with Vault Health Services of New Jersey, is now offering free at-home testing for COVI D-19 for County residents 14 years or older, and anyone employed as a first responder or health care worker in Mercer County.
In addition, the County soon will begin offering COVID-19 testing at pop-up mobile sites that visit different municipalities, also in partnership with Vault Health Services. We especially will try to target areas where COVID-19 cases and comorbid medical conditions are more prevalent in the population.
These new testing services are being funded by a State of New Jersey Coronavirus Relief Fund grant that was made available because Mercer was one of 12 New Jersey counties that was ineligible for Coronavirus Relief Funding because their populations are below 500,000 .. This additional testing availability will help us identify and isolate people who are infected with the virus, which may become more urgent as the weather gets colder and people are driven indoors.
The saliva collection test for COVID-19 has the same effectiveness as the nasal swab test. It is not an antibody test, but rather is designed to determine if an individual is currently infected with COVID-19 and has the potential to infect others. This test is performed under the supervision of a Vault healthcare provider through a video telehealth visit, eliminating the risk of person-to-person exposure to the virus.
Individuals seeking a test will visit www.mercercares.org to register. They will be required to provide proof of residency or employment, and after their eligibility is verified, they will receive a digital link to Vault's webpage to request a test kit. The kit will be shipped overnight with instructions on how to schedule a Zoom telehealth meeting with a certified healthcare worker who will virtually instruct the individual about how to properly collect a saliva sample for shipment to the Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory for testing. Test results are expected to be returned within 72 hours. Health insurance is not required, but a claim will be submitted if the individual is covered.
My administration will continue to take whatever steps we can to protect the health and well-being of Mercer County residents and frontline workers. I thank you for your continued support.
Signed,
Brian M. Hughes
Mercer County Executive