Fall River residents line up for free at-home COVID tests

While thoughts on implementation were mixed, Fall River residents clamored for free at-home rapid tests before getting together for Christmas gatherings.

The City of Fall River was given 38,790 at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits that were allocated to the City from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Earlier in the week, 23,670 tests had been distributed through various community-based organizations. Tests have been delivered to the Fall River Public Schools, Fall River Housing Authority, the Fall River Council on Aging, food pantries, faith-based organizations and a number of other agencies including SER-Jobs for Progress, SSTAR, Citizens for Citizens, People Incorporated, WIC, and HealthFirst Inc.

On Wednesday, a public distribution of the 15,120 remaining test kits took place at three of the Fall River Fire Department stations.

People lined up before the 4:00 p.m. start time waiting to show proof of residency to receive their free test. According to some of those who showed up to receive the test, it got out of control at times and lines were long.

Benjamin Coleman says he left without receiving one because he wasn’t in a vehicle. “I walked to the fire station (Wednesday) to get a free covid test. As I was walking up County Street, I noticed a huge traffic jam. As I approached the station on Eastern Avenue, I noticed lots of people walking up to the fire station. Suddenly a fireman appeared and shouted “no more walkups. Someone almost got hit.” My understanding is that the firemen were having walkups stand in line in traffic, so they were literally standing behind a car, with a car behind them, moving forward whenever the line moved forward. I also noticed there were no police present to direct traffic. There was a traffic jam for more than a mile in both directions. There was a school bus stuck in the traffic jam that was still there when I walked back home. I was struck by how poorly planned the whole thing was. I mean, really, really badly planned. And now you have to own a car to get a free covid test. I guess we really don’t care about the poor in our community.”

Another resident complained about being pushed out of the way at the Stanley Street station by someone wanting a test.

Not all of the reviews were bad, however, as several commented how smooth and orderly their experience was at the Globe Street and Stanley Street stations.

Mayor Paul Coogan was even spotted helping the firefighters pass out the tests.

As of December 15th, the city had seen over 19,600 virus cases among all residents with an average of just over 97 cases per day in the last two-week span.