(Radio Iowa) – The five state-operated “Test Iowa” sites will continue to offer drive-through screenings this winter, but not in open parking lots. Governor Reynolds says sites in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Waterloo have already relocated to enclosed spaces test-takers can still drive through.  “The sites range from industrial buildings to a Windsor Lions bus facility and a former Sears Auto Center,” Reynold says. “The site in Council Bluffs has been the only one remaining without an enclosed building secured for winter operations, until now.”

Today (Friday) will be the final day of testing for the Council Bluffs site at the Western Trails Historic Center. It will reopen at 8 a.m. Monday in the Southwest Iowa Transit Agency facility in Council Bluffs.  “As the seasons began to change, we knew it would be critical to maintain operations of the five drive-through sites located in some of our states most populated areas throughout the winter months, but recognized that adjustments would be necessary to accommodate the weather and protect Test Iowa staff as well as those being tested.”

Last week, more than 19-thousand Iowans were screened for Covid during the four weekdays the five Test Iowa sites were open. Reynolds says on the Monday before Thanksgiving, a record six-thousand-seven-hundred-three (6703) test kits were collected at the five locations. The sites were closed on Thanksgiving Day.