Dear Students:
I am pleased to inform you that Winthrop has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to offer free COVID-19 testing at the North parking lot of the Winthrop Coliseum, beginning this Friday from 9 a.m.1-p.m. More information will be shared if and when testing on the main campus becomes widely available.
DHEC’s free nasal swab testing will be available to anyone at Winthrop and in the surrounding communities at the Coliseum on Sept. 11, Sept. 18 and Sept. 23. Additional dates and times will be added, so please continue to check DHEC's testing site for updates.
This is good news for Winthrop and for our communities as we help provide a much needed, and free, service in order to stay on top of virus activity in our area.
Students who are experiencing symptoms or have tested positive should immediately communicate this information to Health Services by emailing covidreporting@winthrop.edu.
Please read the press release below that provides more details, and thank you to all involved who helped make this a reality.
Sincerely,
George
George Hynd
Interim President
Winthrop Coliseum to Serve as Free COVID-19 Testing Site Through December
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University is partnering with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to offer free COVID-19 testing to the Winthrop, and surrounding, community at the North parking lot of the Winthrop Coliseum, 1162 Eden Terrace. (No COVID-19 public testing is currently available on Winthrop's main campus located off of Oakland Avenue.)
Free testing, which will be performed via nasal swab, will begin at the Winthrop Coliseum on Friday, Sept. 11, and will initially be offered on Friday, Sept. 11, Friday, Sept. 18 and Wednesday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Additional testing days and hours will be added once more equipment and staffing are secured. The permanent testing site will last through at least December and will then transition to a COVID-19 vaccine site once a vaccine is approved and available to administer.
There is no cost to Winthrop to host the testing location, but it will provide many benefits.
“Having a permanent mobile testing location provides much needed access for the community without the delay in appointment availability. Increasing testing frequency provides a more accurate perspective on the prevalence of the virus in our county. I am so proud of Winthrop’s ability to provide a centralized location to facilitate DHEC’s goal of expanding testing convenience in York County as one more layer of response during this pandemic,” said Jackie Concodora, director of health and counseling services at Winthrop.
According to Concodora, patients will remain in their vehicles at all times during the process, and test results can be delivered via the mail or electronically.
"We're very excited to partner with Winthrop University to improve access to testing for COVID-19 in York County," said Scott Thorpe, DHEC's Midlands region public health director. "As with everything in public health, we know that collaboration will always improve our collective impact. Whether its students or local residents, we know that improved access to free testing means we can catch more cases. The more cases we catch, the better we're able to get this disease under control so we can all return to our normal, pre-pandemic lives."
For more information, please visit DHEC's website.
