This free HIV testing event took place at the Texas Steakhouse building in Kanawha City, a neighborhood of Charleston on MacCorkle Avenue. It was one of many outdoor HIV testing stops that the county health department and community partners held in 2021.
The testing events were part of the response to an HIV outbreak among people who inject drugs in Kanawha County. In May 2021, WV MetroNews reported 11 new HIV cases in the county that year, eight of them tied to injection drug use, and 60 cases since 2018. The health department averaged 14 HIV tests a day at its outreach events. Testing was free and included linkage to care. Some events also offered COVID-19 testing and vaccines and shots for hepatitis A, hepatitis B and tetanus.
Other Kanawha City testing in 2021 took place at the old Kmart parking lot on MacCorkle Avenue. See HIV testing in Kanawha City, Old Kmart Parking Lot, Kanawha City, expanded HIV testing opportunities continue and the HIV task force.