Camden County Opens 2 New COVID-19 Test Sites

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — Two new COVID-19 testing sites are opening in Camden County as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb, according to officials.

Camden County will open a test site at the Charles DePalma Public Works complex in Lindenwold on Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The county complex at 2600 Mt. Ephraim Avenue in Camden City will also open for testing on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. this week. These two new sites are being commissioned in tandem with the other county sites that are already operating at the Camden County Health Hub.

“Expanding our existing footprint for testing will be critical moving forward and today we have added more hours and times for new options for our community,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. said. “We now have more capacity in strategic locations in the northern, southern and center of the county to limit travel times and create more convenience for residents.”

At the two sites, the Department of Health will administer the saliva test that is also being used at the Camden County Health Hub, officials said. Those who will be using these tests should not eat or drink anything for 30 minutes prior to taking the test.

The Bellmawr Health Clinic will no longer be used as a testing site, due to the size of the facility and operational inadequacies to meet the high volume of testing demands, officials said.

The days and hours at the Health Hub, located at Camden County College, expanded on Monday. The hub at 200 College Drive in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township is now open from 8 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Beginning on Monday, Health Hub testing will be available at the Health Hub located at Camden County College’s Blackwood campus from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays by appointment only.

Starting on Thursday, at the Health Hub no appointment will be needed on Thursdays from 8 to 11 a.m. This will be a saliva test.

Starting on Tuesday, on Tuesdays the county Health Department will be administering testing at the Charles DePalma Public Works complex from 8 to 11 a.m. This will be a saliva test.

Beginning on Wednesday, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the county Health Department will be administering testing from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Camden County Complex located at 2600 Mt. Ephraim Avenue in Camden City. This will be a saliva test and no appointment is needed.

Starting Monday, testing will be available at Cooper University Hospital, which is located the intersection of Broadway and Stevens Street in Camden, from 9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Cooper Specialty Care at Cherry Hill will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday and Sunday. This is by appointment only, and you must be asymptomatic to be tested.

You can schedule your COVID-19 test at Cooper by using our online scheduling tool at this link.

In addition to these county testing options, the state Department of Health is also offering a mail in option. They have partnered with the same test provider, Vault Medical Services, to distribute free, at home COVID-19 tests by mail to all residents who need them. The new program is in addition to traditional testing operated at designated testing sites.

You can order a test by visiting learn.vaulthealth.com/nj. The kits are shipped through UPS with next-day delivery and once you receive it, you will hold a Zoom call with a Vault health care professional to guide you through the test and answer your questions. You then send the test back in pre-paid packaging through UPS’ next-day delivery, and you must drop off the package at a UPS site or drop box. Results should be back to you within 24 to 48 hours.

On Monday, operational hours at the vaccine clinic shifted to 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays.

“I cannot stress enough, that with the new variant, Omicron and the Delta variant the importance of being vaccinated and boosted. It’s been scientifically proven time and again that we need to be vaccinated and boosted to avoid the worst impacts of these new variants of the virus,” Cappelli said. “If you haven’t gotten the vaccine yet, do it now, young or old, healthy or immunocompromised, this is a life-saving medication that will protect you from Covid-19. You can make an appointment at the Camden County Health Hub by visiting www.CamdenCountyVaccine.com.”

As of Monday, there have been 76,614 coronavirus cases and 1,408 coronavirus-related deaths in Camden County since the pandemic began in March 2020. This includes 4,779 new positive cases which occurred between New Year's Eve and Monday.

As of Monday, 384,881 Camden County residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 334,485 are fully vaccinated and 131,188 have received a third dose. More information regarding vaccination rates throughout the county and available on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard at covid19.nj.gov.

The Camden County Health Department is continuing to closely track new cases of COVID-19 and information regarding the prevalence of the Delta variant. New cases are often reassigned to other municipalities over the course of an investigation.

This article originally appeared on the Gloucester Township Patch