State's free COVID testing site in Fall River to close; New Bedford site to remain open

The Herald News
·2 min read

FALL RIVER —CIC Health, which operates a state-sponsored Stop the Spread testing site at Bristol Community College, will no longer be offering free COVID-19 testing.

Due to a significant drop in demand at STS sites and the wide availability of rapid antigen tests, the Baker-Polito administration will be downsizing its testing program to just 11 sites, effective April 1.

Fall River is among the sites closing, but nearby New Bedford's location run by Project Beacon will remain open. The drive-through site is located at New Bedford Regional Airport, 1569 Airport Road.

Stop the Spread: Free COVID testing in Fall River set to start in Bristol Community College parking lot

CIC Health of Cambridge will use a trailer unit set up in the parking lot of Bristol Community College to provide free COVID-19 testing.
CIC Health of Cambridge will use a trailer unit set up in the parking lot of Bristol Community College to provide free COVID-19 testing.

Other STS sites that will continue to offer PCR testing — free to any Massachusetts resident, with no insurance or ID necessary — include:

  • Everett

  • Framingham

  • Lawrence (2 locations)

  • Lynn

  • Randolph

  • Revere

  • Springfield (2 locations)

  • Worcester

The locations were selected based on demonstrated need, volume of daily testing, and geographic equity, and will continue through at least May 15.

According to the state, sites like Fall River have seen a rapid decline in volume across locations over the past two months, with an 80% decrease in volume since the beginning of January.

Real estate report: Top 5 Fall River sales are all multi-family homes

At the same time, Massachusetts has continued to see positive trends in COVID-19 metrics, the Baker-Polito administration noted. As of March 1, Massachusetts 7-day average of cases reported is down 96% from its peak in January of this year and overall positivity rate is less than 2%.

The Stop the Spread testing initiative was created by the Baker-Polito administration in the early days of the pandemic in response to the surge in COVID-19 positive cases, to ensure access to free COVID-19 testing at a time when there were few testing options.

Since the start of STS in July 2020, this free testing program has provided over 4 million tests to residents of the commonwealth at 41 locations.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Stop the Spread COVID testing in Fall River to close; New Bedford open