Ohio’s Public Libraries Distribute Millions of Covid Testing Kits

UPDATE: Dec. 2, 2022 — The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is preparing for a possible uptick in COVID-19 cases over the holiday season. With that in mind, public libraries participating in the free At-Home COVID-19 Test program will see some changes in the next three shipments of tests (after Thanksgiving, mid-December, and early-January). ODH has been working with eMed on a Test-to-Treat solution that includes a telehealth proctor and the option to immediately connect the user with a clinician for a clinical evaluation if they test positive.

Resources from ODH explaining the process:

 


UPDATE: July 7, 2022 — Ohio’s public libraries have distributed more than 2.7 million testing kits!

UPDATE: February 25, 2022 — Ohio’s public libraries have distributed more than 2.5 million testing kits at 430 library locations around the state.


photo of staff passing out kits in snow

Cleveland Public Library staff brave the elements to distribute testing kits to the community.

January 12, 2022 — Fueled by the pervasiveness of the delta and omicron variants, Ohio’s public libraries have seen a dramatic surge in the number of people requesting rapid, at-home COVID testing kits.

Since this partnership with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) began in March 2021, Ohio’s public libraries have distributed more than 2.24 million tests (338,694 tests were distributed between March-September 2021). In December 2021 alone, 201 of Ohio’s 251 public library systems distributed more than 645,000 tests.

Please note: libraries are not the only place in Ohio to obtain a test.

Ohioans can also order tests from the federal government through USPS.com. USPS will send one set of 4 tests to valid U.S. residential addresses. Tests can be ordered online or by phone at 1-800-232-0233.

COVID-19 testing sites throughout Ohio
Interactive map — search by county or zip code and type of test (pop-up testing site, rapid at-home test, etc.).

photo of Athens librarians unloading boxes

Athens librarians unload a shipment of 1,700 at-home Covid tests from the Ohio Department of Health. The library distributed all of these tests to patrons in one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrons pick up testing kits in the parking lot at Tipp City Public Library.

 

photo of book cart with covid testing kits

A staff member at the Cuyahoga County Public Library gets ready to hand out testing kits at the drive-through window.

 

Marysville PL

Marysville Public Library prepares testing kits for distribution.