Free Covid-19 testing is available again at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

After temporarily closing in May, the testing site, previously operated by Public Health — Seattle & King County, reopened June 17 in the parking lot to provide free testing to the community.

Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences, the testing lab supporting the site, was invited by King County to take over individual testing.

“The county who was sponsoring the site was working with a healthcare organization,” said Altius Chief Technology Officer Michael Cockrill. “The county wanted to lower cost and downsize the operation, and the healthcare organization wanted to get back to focusing on their core patients.”

Testing is free and does not require insurance, though if a patient does have health insurance coverage they are asked to produce their insurance card so the clinic can bill the insurance company.

Regardless of patients’ insurance status, they will not be billed.

The site is expected to run tests until September, but it depends on the needs of the community how long it remains open, Cockrill said.

Walk-in patients are welcome, however appointments can also be booked on the King County website.

While the original drive-thru site was scaled to conduct 700-800 tests a day, the new set-up is equipped to test a much smaller pool of subjects.

“We reopened in that same parking lot but with a much smaller footprint,” said Cockrill. “It’s now a walk-up testing site rather than a drive-thru testing site that is focused on probably about half that volume.”

The walk-up clinic’s hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except during swim meets, located at 650 SW Campus Drive in Federal Way.

More information can be found at kingcounty.gov under the Covid testing tab at the top of the home page.