Bamberg, South Carolina (March 2020) – Bamberg County Administration and Emergency Services received a supply of COVID-19 tests at no cost from South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). The tests are manufactured by Maverick Health and are approved for at-home COVID-19 testing using a saliva sample that is sent to a laboratory for PCR analysis. Individuals register their samples via the Maverick Health website, send their sample to the lab for testing via a pre-paid envelope, and receive results within 24 – 48 hours.

To register for the test kits, individuals must indicate their contact information, quantity of tests required, preferred pick-up location, and acknowledge they have access to a smart phone and/or the internet. The registration form can be accessed through this link: https://www.bambergcountysc.gov/emergency-services.

Test requests will be routed through Bamberg County Emergency Services. The staff will respond to requests within one to two business days and arrange no-contact pick-up at one of the nine fire stations throughout the county. Special accommodations can be made for alternate pick-up locations on a case by case basis. Citizens are asked to be considerate of others when registering and limit the number of tests requested to the number of individuals in a household. Requests will be monitored in-house to ensure no one family or address receives an excessive number of test kits.

“While progress is being made against COVID-19 as evidenced by a declining number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, and rising numbers of vaccinated individuals, it is essential that we not let our guard down yet,” stated Joey Preston, Bamberg County Administrator. “We appreciate that we have the opportunity to provide these easy to use, at home tests for Bamberg County citizens. Testing for COVID-19 is still an important component of overcoming this pandemic.”

Interested individuals are asked to submit test requests via the Bamberg County website  https://www.bambergcountysc.gov/emergency-services.  Questions can be directed to emergencyservices@bambergcounty.sc.gov or 803-245-4131, option 1.

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