NAHANT – On Thursday, the town will be giving out COVID-19 test kits to residents aged two and older.
Test kits will be handed out at the Johnson Elementary School from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. via a drive-through. The town was able to get volunteers to help distribute the test kits and get people through the line quickly.
“It’s extremely valuable,” said Town Administrator Antonio Barletta. “The key to testing is convenience, so providing residents with an at-home test kit gives them the ability to test when they need to be tested. That can sometimes be because of travel, or work, or because they were in direct contact with someone who tested positive, or because they had symptoms and those don’t always coincide with random, drive-through test events. Having a test at home gives them the ability to test when they need to test.”
Barletta gave the example of planning a testing event on a Thursday and someone coming in close contact with someone with COVID on Friday.
“That Thursday night test clinic didn’t do anything for you,” he said. “If I give you a test kit, you can use it when you need it.”
The town has enough supply to give one test kit to every resident. Nahant will be receiving even more kits later in the month.
Residents received On/Go antigen tests from Intrivo. A mobile application can be downloaded on cellular devices in order to gain guidance about how to take the test along with the ability to get results. The On/Go app can even register symptoms and allow results to be shared with friends, family, or employers.
“With February school vacation coming up, it’s a timely opportunity to provide people the chance to test at home,” Barletta added.
Only one resident from each household is required to come to the drive-through to pick up the test kits for their entire household. Residents are also asked to bring a valid ID with their Nahant address.
