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Mobile Coronavirus testing van headed to Hazleton as city battles high infection rate

The city was recognized as a hot spot in April and now in December, it is facing the same fight.

HAZLETON, Pa. — As Luzerne County counts more than 350 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, a majority of those cases are coming from the Hazleton area.

The Wright Center for Community Health is sending in help.

Come Wednesday, its mobile testing van will be on the corner of East Chestnut and South Pine Streets from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.

"With all this going on in Luzerne Count, getting a mobile unit, I think that's fantastic," Andrew Goryl of Hazle Township said.

"You have to get tested. It's just that way, you have to get tested. That will be beneficial for everybody," Shirely Yanoski of Hazleton said.

There will be a bi-lingual team of health care professionals there speaking both English and Spanish.

"Recently, the push is to make sure that we are making sure all of our materials are in both English and Spanish and then also having staff that are bilingual so they can really communicate," Rebecca Kenderes, a physician assistant with the Wright Center, said.

The Wright Center says anyone can get tested at the mobile health unit, regardless of whether they have insurance.

"If you don't have insurance, that's not a concern. We work on a sliding fee scale for patients as well as using the CARES Act to accommodate for the testing," Kenderes said.

This upcoming Wednesday, walk-ins are welcome or people can register online or by calling the Wright Center at 570-230-0019. 

The van will be back in Hazleton again come the first week of January.

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