(Radio Iowa) – More than 80-thousand Iowans logged onto Test-Iowa-dot-com (www.testiowa.com) in the past 24 hours and answered questions to assess whether they meet the guidelines for COVID-19 testing. Governor Kim Reynolds unveiled the website yesterday (Tuesday) and she says nearly 250 Iowans are now scheduled to be tested Saturday at a drive-through site in downtown Des Moines.

“And we’re identifying locations now for additional sites in other communities across the state,” Reynolds says. To qualify for a test now, an Iowan must either have symptoms, interacted with someone who’s already tested positive for COVID or been in a virus “hot spot” like New Orleans or Chicago. Reynolds, though, is asking all Iowans to complete the Test-Iowa assessment — particularly Iowans who work in health care, law enforcement, manufacturing or other essential services.

“This again will help us understand the spread and scope of the virus,” the governor says, “and help see if our workforce have symptoms, we can get them the test and get them back on line.” The state is paying a group of private companies based in Utah 26 MILLION dollars to run Test Iowa and she says the companies are responsible for acquiring the supplies to do the testing.