County to End Community COVID-19 District Testing Program

Hawaiʻi County is transitioning away from its community COVID-19 district testing program at the end of the week.

Testing will be transferred to medical care providers, which have been doing the bulk of testing since vaccinations became widely available. Final county community testing will be held in Kona at the West Hawaiʻi Civic Center this Saturday, May 22. The decision to transition away from the county testing program comes as there has been a drastic decline in demand at all testing sites over the course of the past few months.

“With 52% of our island’s population receiving at least one vaccination shot, we feel that it is time to transition away from our community district testing program,” said Talmadge Magno, Civil Defense Administrator. “We have seen a steady decline in demand for services and feel that the medical care providers around the island are now equipped to begin taking on the role of community testing.”

The next scheduled testing will be on Wednesday, May 19, in Hilo at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium from 3-6 p.m.

“Our island has done an amazing job at keeping our numbers low, people out of hospitals, and getting shots in arms,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “As we begin to make this transition to our on-island medical care providers, we would like to encourage our community to continue getting vaccinated to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in our county. We are on the path to normalcy, and with your help, we will be able to beat this virus once and for all, but it will take all of us.”