The county-run COVID-19 testing center will be reopened in Lansdale in the very near future. Last week the county’s Office of Public Health signed a one-year agreement to lease space at 400 Pennbrook Parkway to help administer and maintain an outlet for testing needs across the North Penn area.
This comes after State Representative Malagari, Lansdale Borough Council President Denton Burnell, and I reached out and publicly voiced the desire for the testing center to be re-opened in our community. Lansdale, as you may know, is one of the densest communities in the county outside of Norristown, with over 6,257 people per square mile on average. For comparison, Pottstown Borough averages 4,686 per square mile (and has a testing site).
Logically, the denser a community is, the greater the risk of transmission of COVID-19 due to people being in closer proximity to one another. Prior to the re-establishment of the Lansdale testing center, the closest location to receive a test from a non-commercial site (Rite Aid/CVS) was in Willow Grove. When you are not feeling well, a drive to Willow Grove is quite the distance to travel. To further complicate the matter getting tested at CVS or Rite Aid was, often, impossible due to a shortage of tests for commercial vendors.
It is critical that we maintain a robust testing center to help quickly manage and respond to surges of COVID-19. While I was dismayed and frustrated at the closure of the site earlier this year, the year-long lease at the new location suggests that the county is committed to building a long-term testing site to help mitigate future variations of this virus.
Obviously, getting vaccinated is still everyone’s best option in helping to manage the ongoing pandemic. However, until everyone can be vaccinated, including children under the age of 5, testing will continue to be a key infrastructure that we must invest in to help protect vulnerable populations of unvaccinated people. Thankfully, the volume of positive cases is starting to subside, and we are once again on the backside of a surge. However, this very likely will not be the last variant we encounter and with it will come another surge of cases. Having a local testing center in our community will help us better manage the pandemic when that time comes.
I would like to thank the Montgomery County Commissioners and the Office of Public Health for responding to our concerns and helping re-establish this testing center in our community. It will go a long way in helping the entire North Penn area better manage this ongoing pandemic challenge.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert.)
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