MA Closing Last COVID-19 'Stop The Spread Testing' Sites

WORCESTER, MA — One of the state's last remaining pandemic-era healthcare programs will end in March.

By March 30, the remaining 11 "Stop the Spread" COVID-19 testing sites will close in Massachusetts, marking the end of a free testing program that once had more than 40 locations across the state.

State officials are citing a decline in demand for PCR testing — seen as the gold-standard for coronavirus testing, and involves a deep swabbing of the nasal passages and waiting several hours for results. The state measured fewer than 1,000 tests per-week in February for the first time since the program began in July 2020.

At-home testing kits are widely available, and deliver results in a few minutes — although viewed as less solid than PCR results.

One year ago, the state shut down 30 of the 41 Stop the Spread sites due to a decline in demand. The remaining 11 sites as of this week were located in Everett, Framingham, Lawrence, Lynn, New Bedford, Randolph, Revere, Springfield and Worcester. Boston also operates two free testing sites at city hall and in Hyde Park.

After the sites shut down March 30, there will still be plenty of PCR testing options, although not all will be free. Find locations on the state Department of Public Health website. Under state law, health insurers aren't allowed to charge either deductibles or co-pays for most COVID-19 treatments.

Even though people are still contracting COVID-19 — including 3,850 cases and 85 deaths last week in Massachusetts alone — the pandemic will effectively end in May, at least from the government's perspective. On May 11, President Joe Biden will end all COVID-19 emergency declarations, which means the government will stop providing vaccines and test kits via mail, among other services.

The state administered about 4.3 million tests over the nearly three years Stop the Spread was available.