As Washington County has lately been seeing a percentage of COVID-19 positive tests not seen since last January, public health reminds Iowans of a free way of testing available.

Test Iowa, a partnership between the Iowa Department of Public Health and the State Hygienic Lab, offers free at-home saliva test kits, which residents are welcome to pick up from Washington County Public Health at the Federation Bank building from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Interim Public Health Administrator Chris Estle says you don’t have to come during that time, but it is when they have a staff member readily available to distribute them.

Estle says those who don’t wish to come to their office have another way to receive a kit, “You can go online to have those test kits sent directly to your home from the Test Iowa site. We encourage people who are going to be traveling and then they come home and they want to be tested before they go back to work, or they just want to have a test done since they’ve been out of the country or whatever. We encourage people to go ahead and order those and then have them on hand and they can do the test and then have everything available for them.”

The nearest Test Iowa test kit drop off sites for Washington County residents are Johnson County Public Health in Iowa City and the State Hygienic Lab in Coralville. Test results are sent by email and should be available within 24 hours of the lab receiving an activated kit. Iowa Department of Public Health says as an increased demand for testing is putting additional strain on health care clinics and emergency rooms, Iowans seeking testing for travel or other proactive purposes should purchase a home test kit from a retailer or pharmacy, schedule an appointment at a pharmacy, or visit testiowa.com.