COVID-19 tests available at Magnolia clinics

The Columbia County Health Unit is located at 207 South Jefferson Street in Magnolia.
The Columbia County Health Unit is located at 207 South Jefferson Street in Magnolia.

“Right now, it’s just one day at a time,” said Twana Hendricks, the local health administrator for the Columbia County Health Unit.

It has been nearly eleven months since the novel coronavirus entered the United States and began a nationwide pandemic. On November 5, the U.S. set a new daily record for COVID-19 cases with at least 102,591 recorded cases on Wednesday. The following day, November 6, that record was broken again with more than 121,000 cases being reported on Thursday.

In the past week, Arkansas has reported over 7,200 new cases of COVID-19 with about 70 of those cases active in Columbia County. Lafayette County and Union County have reported 58 and 131 cases respectively in the past week. The Columbia County Health Unit encourages those who begin to feel symptoms of the coronavirus to contact their healthcare provider.

“We strongly encourage anyone to get tested if they are being tested for showing symptoms,” Hendricks said. “We also encourage them to go home and quarantine until they get their test results.”

In Magnolia, there are numerous places where COVID-19 tests are available including Magnolia Regional Medical Center (MRMC), the Columbia County Health Unit, and Premier Urgent Care. The Columbia County Health Unit provides testing at no cost out-ofpocket, but a patient’s insurance may be billed if they provide insurance information.

The clinic has also had to make changes to how it operates including limiting the waiting room capacity, checking visitor’s temperatures upon arrival, and even changing requirements for Women Infants and Children (WIC) checkups.

“Our turnaround time is typically three to five days,” Hendricks said about how long it takes for results to come back from COVID tests. The clinic is located at 207 S. Jefferson. Their hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8am to 4:30pm and 8am to 6pm on Tuesday. You can contact the Columbia County Health Unit at (870)235-3798.

Premier Urgent Care also provides tests, but declined to comment on costs for a patient without insurance. However, the testing cost can be covered by insurance. The return time for tests is about three to five days.

“Wear your mask, wash your hands, carry hand sanitizer, and social distance,” said TIffany Hearnsberger, a nurse practitioner at Premier Urgent Care. “The Center for Disease Control website has a plethora of information about any aspect of COVID,” Hearnsberger said. Premier Urgent Care is open from 8am to 8pm Monday through Saturday and 12pm to 4pm on Sunday. They can be reached at (870)234-7435.

You can find more information on COVID-19 on the Center for Disease Control website at cdc.gov or on the website for the Arkansas Department of Health at healthy.arkansas.gov.

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