John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Medical take a patient's coronavirus test during a trial run for a new FEMA drive-thru coronavirus testing clinic at CVS at 720 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury, MA on March 19, 2020. The clinic had a tent on Route 9 and was waiting for federal approval
- CVS announced on Monday that it's launching drive-through coronavirus testing in Rhode Island and Georgia.
- The company already co-operates a testing site in Massachusetts.
- The tests will offer nearly instantaneous results from a new test approved in March by the FDA for emergency use.
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CVS is offering drive-through coronavirus testing in two more states, Georgia and Rhode Island, in addition to its location in Massachusetts, the pharmacy giant said Monday.
Tests can provide on-the-spot results using a new testing method approved for use by federal officials in March, and will be free for any eligible patients who pre-register online.
"The test sites will bolster state efforts to manage the spread of the virus and provide on-the-spot test results," CVS said in a press release.
In addition to the CVS testing in three states, drive-through testing has also launched in most other states, though locations are very limited.
The testing expansion comes after President Donald Trump over the weekend warned that the next two weeks will likely be some of the toughest yet.
"There will be a lot of death, unfortunately," he told reporters at the White House. His surgeon general, Jerome Adams, also said that he upcoming week would be "the hardest and saddest week of most Americans' lives," comparing it to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
The launch of the Abbott test to be used at CVS' testing sites could be a turning point in the US' struggle to accelerate testing amid a shortage of testing capacity that has frustrated officials and doctors. The company said it was ramping up production to hit 50,000 per day as soon as this week.
As of Monday morning, the US had confirmed nearly 338,000 positive coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.
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