PASSAIC COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS ANNOUNCE AT-HOME COVID-19 TESTING FOR PASSAIC COUNTY RESIDENTS

Partnership with Vault Medical Services of New Jersey and Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory

(Passaic County, New Jersey) – Today, the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders are announcing that Passaic County residents can sign up to receive a COVID-19 saliva test to be administered at home through a partnership struck with Vault Medical Services of New Jersey and the Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory. This is the first at-home testing model being conducted by any local or county government in the State of New Jersey.

All Passaic County residents can register for the COVID-19 saliva test by visiting www.passaiccountynj.org/covid19hometest. Once a resident registers, he/she will receive instructions on how to request the test kit, perform a supervised saliva collection test with a Vault healthcare provider via Zoom, and mail the specimen to the Rutgers Clinical Genomic Laboratory for processing. This is a free service for all Passaic County residents, with results generally available in forty eight (48) hours. Residents will need to have a driver’s license to have access to the test.

“Since the Public Health Emergency was declared by Governor Murphy, Passaic County has been a leader in ensuring every resident has access to a COVID-19 test,” stated Passaic County Freeholder Director Sandi Lazzara. “Now, through this partnership with Vault and Rutgers, residents will be able to receive a COVID-19 test kit at their home, and get the results within two days. Passaic County is adopting a new model to meet Governor Murphy’s mandate to double testing capacity in New Jersey to continue our efforts to flatten the curve here in Passaic County.”

Since the Public Health Emergency was declared by Governor Murphy, the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders has been operating a drive through COVID-19 test site at William Paterson University. Since March 25, 2020, over 14,000 Passaic County residents have been tested for COVID-19 at the site, with regular hours still maintained on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Now, residents will have the convenient option of testing at home with hopes of increasing the number of residents tested and aid in ongoing contact tracing efforts being coordinated by the Passaic County Health Department to control the spread of COVID-19.

According to data from the New Jersey Department of Health, positive case numbers have been slowly cumulatively declining in Passaic County. In order to ensure the continuous decline of positive cases and an accurate overall count of both symptomatic and asymptomatic residents who may be unknowingly infected, the Freeholder Board has increased options for testing to make it easier for residents to participate in testing.

“The only way to flatten the curve and reopen Passaic County and New Jersey’s economy is by increasing testing capacity for COVID-19,” stated Freeholder Bruce James. “By offering free testing services to residents from the convenience of their home, Passaic County is leading the charge in New Jersey to enhance testing capacity and control the spread of COVID-19.”

For more information, please visit www.passaiccountynj.org/covid19hometest.

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