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Where to get screened for COVID-19 in West Texas

Health officials are asking those who think they might have been exposed not to go to an Emergency Room.

If you have been experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or recently traveled to a place you where you might have been exposed, Midland and Odessa say it is best you get screened by your primary care doctor.

But what if you do not have a primary care doctor?

If you live in Midland:

  • Call 68NURSE, someone on the free hotline will walk through your symptoms
  • Download the Basin MD app and talk to a provider virtually

If you live in Odessa:

  • Go to an Urgent Care facility but call them ahead of time 

The information doctors gather from the screening determines whether you should be tested for COVID-19.

But this is where it gets complicated, if you have mild symptoms the screening may not lead you anywhere. 

“Don’t worry about getting screened and knowing if you have this,"  said Sudip Bose, Medical Center Hospital emergency medicine physician. "It seems like an unusual answer but that’s the safest thing to do right now.”

If a doctor believes you should be tested COVID-19 and it could impact your treatment, they will relay that information to the health department and they have the final say on testing.

For most people who test positive, the only remedy is staying home away from people.

“There is no magic pill, there is no vaccine," Bose said. "Staying home and letting your immune system flight this and not exposing your immune system is the most responsible thing to do.”

If you meet requirements to be tested, there are one of three locations you will be sent to in Midland by appointment.

Same goes for Odessa, the Ector County Health Department will send you to a testing site.

For more information on CDC screening click here.

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