The Department of Health has announced the opening of rapid testing sites around the state for asymptomatic individuals, by appointment only, including the Rhode Island Convention Center ticket booth in downtown Providence. (For more sites go to the RIDOH Covid portal.) All state-run sites will be closed Saturday, December 25.
In advance of holiday gatherings over the next two weeks, Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) are expanding access to rapid testing and to COVID-19 booster doses and primary series vaccine.
For those Rhode Islanders who are asymptomatic but are looking for a test before the holidays, the state is expanding access to rapid testing at six existing testing sites. (Previously, people who were asymptomatic received PCR tests at these sites.) Testing is also available for symptomatic people at these locations. Appointments are still needed for these rapid tests.
Go here for the weekly calendar of local mobil Covid testing sites. “Free asymptomatic screening. No appointment necessary. Same-day test results available.” The list is subject to change, but at the time of this writing the following Providence sites were on the schedule:
Tuesday, December 21 — Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association.
Wednesday, December 22 — Knight Memorial Library & Smith Hill Community Development.
WPRI has more info including this good news:
Last week, the state received 100,000 at-home test kits to distribute to people in the hardest-hit cities and towns.