Free COVID-19 testing will be available in Maricopa on Saturday.

The Maricopa Wellness Center and the Arizona Department of Health Services have scheduled a drive-thru testing blitz from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the north parking lot at the Copper Sky Recreation Complex.

Testing, which will be conducted by a swab to the nose, will detect active infection. It is not an antibody test.

Testing is limited and the event is first come, first serve. It is apparently the first free testing made available to the public in the city.

Maricopa Wellness has been providing testing for a $100 fee, which can then be submitted to insurance.

Please bring the following to be tested at the blitz:

• Government-issued photo ID (photocopy preferred), including driver’s license, visa, passport or military ID.

• Please bring photocopy (preferred) of insurance card (front and back), if applicable

• Two forms – a consent form and a LabCorp testing slip – can be accessed at those links, printed and completed, and brought to the testing blitz.

You must be 18 or older to be tested. No walk-ups will be tested; you must be in a car and all occupants of the car must be wearing face masks. There will be no bathroom access.

A copy of the test results will be sent in the mail by LabCorp, and test results can be accessed by LabCorp’s patient portal.

Coronavirus cases are surging in Arizona, with more than 2,500 new cases and 86 deaths reported on Sunday. More than 122,000 cases and 2,237 deaths have been reported in total, according to the state health department.

More than 5,600 of those cases were reported in Pinal County, which has reported 88 total deaths, including five since Saturday.

More than 662 cases of the virus have been reported in Maricopa –  476  in the 85138 zip code and 186 in 85139.

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