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Jack Brooks Airport COVID-19 test collection site closing

The drive through site will stop operations on May 15

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — The drive through testing site at the Jack Brooks Airport will stop operations on May 15. Testing will now be privatized. 

Individual cities will now be responsible for connecting patients to testing locations. 

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick gathered the six county judges on Wednesday in Beaumont to make the announcment. 

He says the Southeast Texas Regional Emergency Operations Center has met the governor's goal by testing more than 1 percent of residents.   

If you remember the call center began operations on March 20. Testing at the airport started on March 24. 

Beaumont Mayor Becky Ames also spoke, saying Beaumont is partnering with seven test sites to continue testing. 

As for the EOC's hotline number, you can still call it to get connected to a testing site. The number is (409)550-2536. 

The volume of calls will continue to be closely monitored. 

"We will continue to have our EOC open and we will monitor everything in the area looking for a surge in case we need to jump back into action," 

This announcement comes just about a week after Gov. Greg Abbott stated that testing and tracing would play an important role in reopening Texas. 

Public health professionals have noted that Texas has only tested less than 2 percent of the population. 

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