ELYRIA, Ohio ― In a time of crisis, Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield has been utilizing the parking lot outside of city hall for priority activities.

"Traditionally, when we host community events, they’re normally done inside of a rec center or even inside of city hall. But now with this pandemic and the need to have distance, we’ve really been utilizing this parking lot," said Whitfield.

Now, COVID-19 testing will begin in Elyria. The parking lot will soon be full of Ohio National Guard members, as well as other healthcare workers, bringing testing to an area the mayor says has been at times hard to come by.

"I think one of the key pieces was the lack of peace of mind that people have around not knowing what their status is or not knowing what their loved one's status is," said Whitfield.

The coronavirus pop-up sites are organized by Governor Mike DeWine's Minority Health Strikeforce and the Ohio National Guard, as well as local partners like Lorain County Health and Dentistry, to make testing more available to communities.

"Testing has been unavailable to a large part of the community for months, essentially since the coronavirus was identified in the spring," said Stephanie Wiersma, president and chief executive for Lorain County Health and Dentistry. "There has been a tremendous amount of commitment and energy. Clearly, the governor has laid out a plan to make testing more available and we are thrilled to do our part as the host."

Whitfield says this will be a good opportunity to learn more about the virus in his city. 

"From a community standpoint, this testing is going to give us an idea of how prevalent this virus is in the city, you know, having this kind of sample size allows us to know, you know, how aggressive is this in our community right now, and then gives us some action orders as well."

Testing takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Elyria City Hall.