LDH updates COVID-19 mobile testing schedule for southwest Louisiana

Test site details

• The sites are staffed by members of LANG and are open for a period of five days per week: Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m.
• Testing is for open for any Louisiana resident 16 years of age and older. LANG-operated sites require valid Louisiana identification. However, other testing sites may not require ID.
• Each testing site will be conducted as a drive-thru test site.
• Once on site, those being tested will need to wear a mask and stay in their cars for verification of eligibility criteria, ID check and self-administered test. Walk-up testing is not preferred due to safety concerns, but walk-ups will not be turned away. 
• The site will use a self-administered nasal swab test that will allow those being tested to swab their own nose on site while in their vehicles, observed by a trained medical volunteer to ensure the sample is taken correctly, and drop the sealed sample into a container on their way out of the drive-thru site.
• Once received, the Office of Public Health will contact those who were tested to communicate their results and share any necessary information. 
• While awaiting results, individuals who have been tested should follow CDC guidelines and take steps to help prevent the virus from spreading to people in their home and community.

Save the number 877-766-2130 in your phone

Anyone who receives a call from 877-766-2130 is urged to answer, as the call is from a contact tracer who will keep an individual's information private. Personal information is used to quickly identify anyone a COVID-positive individual may have been in close contact with to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. Everyone called by a contact tracer is advised to watch themselves for signs of illness for 14 days from when they first came in contact with the COVID-19 person.

If a resource need is identified through the contact tracing interview, the case is flagged for follow-up from a resource coordinator social worker who can connect individuals with resources including medication, masks, food assistance and even help locating alternative housing.

Contact tracers employed by LDH will only ask you for your first and last name and your date of birth to confirm that you are the person they intended to call. They will not ask for any financial information, social security numbers or health insurance information. If someone claiming to be employed by LDH does ask for that, immediately hang up and call 877-766-2130 to be connected with LDH's contact tracers.