DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO COVID-19 TESTING STATEWIDE
The New Mexico New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) has announced changes to the testing options available to residents. At the end of last month, Curative notified the state that effective Dec. 28, 2022, Curative will conclude its COVID-19 testing services nationwide. Therefore, the state will only provide free, at-home testing going forward.
In preparation, DOH, in coordination with local county and city emergency managers ordered 1 million free at-home tests from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on December 1, to be distributed statewide. City and county emergency managers will distribute the free at-home antigen tests in their respective communities via existing distribution plans that were implemented earlier this year.
Additionally, New Mexico residents can still receive mail order free at-home tests through the Rockefeller Foundation’s Project Act program at: https://accesscovidtests.org/. If you have COVID symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID, you can also visit a local pharmacy to purchase a test or schedule an appointment with a local testing provider for diagnostic PCR tests that are covered in most cases by insurance and also covered by Medicaid. However, if you do not have symptoms or have not been exposed to someone with COVID, PCR tests are not covered by insurance.
At-home antigen tests take 15 minutes to complete, offering users a convenient way to check whether they are infected with COVID-19. Users can follow up with a test from a medical provider or test site to verify results. If you have symptoms, serial testing with an at-home test separated by 48 hours is 90% accurate. It is still important to stay home if you have symptoms to prevent the spread of COVID and other respiratory illnesses such as RSV and flu.
State health experts encourage all individuals at increased risk of severe disease (and their caregivers) to take steps to prevent COVID-19, RSV and other respiratory infections this flu season.
For more information on how to stay safe and healthy from COVID-19, visit cv.health.org and review the DOH COVID-19 Toolkit.
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