NAHANT — COVID-19 testing at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on Nahant Road is suspended until further notice due to a lack of funding and demand, Nahant Town Hall announced Friday.
The drive-through site, which opened in November, was hosted in partnership with Cataldo Ambulance and was free to all Nahant residents.
While the site initially drew considerable traffic, Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said interest has been on a steady decline in recent weeks, with Cataldo staff administering an average of just 35 tests per over the last three Saturdays.
Board of Selectmen Chair Mark Cullinan noted Cataldo generally looks to administer 75 to 100 tests during each clinic.
“There is a demand issue,” Barletta said. “It needs to make sense for Cataldo Ambulance to be there, and we were kind of just getting over the threshold (of administered tests).”
This is the second time the town has shuttered operations at its only test site.
Following its first suspension in January due to lack of CARES Act funding, Barletta told The Item his biggest concern was that the site’s closing would force Nahant residents to travel farther distances to communities for testing, reducing the likelihood that asymptomatic cases would be detected before spreading to other households.
“One of the best tools to help prevent transmission when you’re dealing with a disease that’s mostly asymptomatic is convenient, local, free testing,” he said, noting that longer travel times may reduce the likelihood of residents receiving a test.
“However, if it’s … right down the street from your house, you might go and come up positive and then we can follow the guidelines in place to prevent potential transmission from that asymptomatic case.”
Nahant officials are now encouraging residents to take advantage of free testing offered to all Massachusetts residents at the state’s Project Beacon sites in Lynn, Revere, and New Bedford.
“The Beacon site over in Lynn (Blossom Street) is pretty effective,” Cullinan said. “I’ve been there three times myself, and we’re directing people to go there now.”
Test appointments at Project Beacon sites can be scheduled in advance by visiting https://app.beacontesting.com/login. Results are available within 24 hours. No health insurance is required and visitors will not be asked their immigration status.
For questions about testing or issues regarding appointments or results at Project Beacon, residents can go to www.mass.gov/express-testing, call Project Beacon’s call center at (617) 741-7310, or email them at [email protected]. Appointments become available several days in advance.
For additional information, Nahant residents can call any of the town’s COVID-19 hotlines at (781) 581-7557, (781) 771-8222, (781) 771-5632, or (781) 771-6230.
