Redding Health Department Update: Testing, Vaccinations, Test Kits, and Local Stats

Where to Get Tested

Western CT State Univ. Westside Campus, 43 Lake Ave. Ext. Danbury M-F 1-7pm Sat/Sun 10am-2pm

Vet’s Park, 42 Seaview Ave. Norwalk M-F 2-7pm Sat/Sun 9-1pm

Cove Park 1125 Cove Rd. Stamford M-F 1-7pm Sat/Sun 10am-2pm

Yale COVID test sites: Doctor must prescribe test, appointment required here

Hartford HealthCare COVID test sites: Appointment required here

CT Dept of Public Health test site listing here

Where to Get Vaccinated

Wednesday, January 12 – Ages 5-11 pediatric clinic – 4-7pm at John Read Middle School. No appointment needed.

Saturday, January 22 & 29 – COVID Vax Van Clinic – 1-5pm – Redding Community Center for ages 12+. All vaccines and boosters available. No appointment needed.

Or go to https://www.vaccines.gov/

Redding Stats

Like the rest of Connecticut, the average daily rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in Redding have spiked in the past three weeks from 30.6 to 62.7 to 119.9, and the positivity rates have increased from 6.9 to 10.7 to 18.2.

Getting fully vaccinated, masking, distancing, and staying home when sick is imperative.

At-Home Test Kits

The best time to use an at-home COVID test kit is when you have symptoms or when you know you have been exposed to someone with COVID. It is not recommended to use an at-home test just for the sake of testing.

A positive at-home test result means the test detected a virus, and you are likely to have an infection. You should stay home and isolate for 5 days, or longer if symptoms persist. Stay in isolation until symptoms improve and continue to wear a mask at least 5 days beyond the 5-day isolation period.  It’s vital to inform all close contacts of your positive test results A positive result from an at-home test kit is probably accurate.

A negative test result means that the test did not detect the virus and you may not have an infection, but it does not rule out infection. It has been found that at-home tests can result in false negatives. Repeating the test within a few days, with at least 24-hours between tests, will increase confidence that you are not infected.

Self-test results do not need to be reported to the local health department; however, it cannot be stressed enough that individuals must follow through with informing close contacts of positive findings to prevent the spread.

Dr. Lawrence Leibowitz
Director of Health

Doug Harline, RS
Redding Health Officer