New COVID Test Site To Open In Moorestown This Weekend

MOORESTOWN, NJ — A new coronavirus testing site is set to open in Moorestown this weekend, township officials announced Monday night. At the same time, the mayor expressed the need for teachers to be vaccinated.

Skippack Medical Lab’s new testing site will open this weekend at the Moorestown West Corporate Center, 1245 North Church Street (close to the police department), Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said during this week’s council meeting.

The site will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday, according to volunteer Saima Bhutta, who is helping put the site together. Follow the link for the online registration form.

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Testing is free. Anyone who has insurance should bring their insurance card, but anyone can be tested for free, whether they have insurance or not, Gillespie said.

“We’re happy that that’s coming to our town,” Gillespie said. “We’re grateful for that setup, and hopefully that will get lots of use.”

The drive-thru testing site will be the third site in the township. There are already testing facilities, including a free test site at the Virtua Urgent Care on Young Avenue, and a rapid testing site behind the Moorestown Mall that returns results in 15 minutes and charges $75.

It is Skippack's first test site in South Jersey, and will be open to anyone in the area. It will offer PCR, rapid testing and antigen testing. Bhutta said she hopes to eventually be able to help residents register to get the vaccine at the site, but that capability will not be available right away.

The township is also home to one of the state's vaccination "mega-sites," in the former Lord & Taylor store at the Moorestown Mall, 400 Route 38. Read more here: Murphy Tours Moorestown Vaccine 'Megasite,' Singleton Gets Vaccinated

Gillespie also voiced support for teachers getting vaccinated sooner than later.

“There has been a lot of discussion in the community and nationally about the need for teachers and school staff to be able to get vaccines and be bumped up on the priority list,” Gillespie said. “Since these are people who, by nature of their job not to be out interacting with people everyday, it’s a tremendous piece of our community and has a tremendous impact on how we are managing.”

She suggested council send a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, urging him to put teachers on the priority list. The other four members of council supported her decision.

As of Wednesday morning, there have been 1,194 positive cases of the coronavirus and 75 coronavirus-related deaths in Moorestown since the pandemic began.

In all, 30,342 Burlington County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. There have been 695 confirmed deaths and 68 probable deaths.