John Minchillo/AP Photo
Authorities operate a drive-thru COVID-19 infection testing site at Glen Island Park, Friday, March 13, 2020, in New Rochelle, N.Y.
- On March 13, New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus testing site in the town of New Rochelle. The goal is to diagnose potential COVID-19 patients without exposing healthcare workers to the disease.
- The site will test up to 200 people a day, with plans to expand its capacity to 500 people a day, according to the governor's press office.
- Similar sites have opened in Seattle, Denver, and the Bay Area. Globally, South Korea, Germany and the UK have also turned to drive-through testing to manage the spread of the virus.
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Drive-through coronavirus testing sites have popped up in several countries and US cities as a way to safely test possible COVID-19 patients without exposing healthcare workers to the disease. On March 13, New York opened the state's first drive-through coronavirus testing site in the town of New Rochelle.
Located in Westchester County, the town is part of a one-mile containment zone that has the highest number of New York's reported cases to date.
The new site will allow medical workers to safely test patients, who can drive through one of six lanes and stay in their cars while getting tested using a nasal swab. Priority will be given to local residents and those with the highest risk, such as seniors citizens and people with compromised immune systems.
The efforts aim to address the delays faced by people trying to get tested as US coronavirus testing capacity slowly ramps up, and the number of reported cases continues to rise.
"This is a very creative way of testing. It's something I didn't hear of last week but that we're doing this week," Governor Andrew Cuomo said during a press conference. "It's not only faster and easier, it's also smarter and safer because you're not exposing people to a person who may be positive."
The site tested 200 patients on Friday, and is now ramping up capacity to test up to 500 people a day, according to a press release.
BioReference Laboratories has partnered with the state to conduct testing at the site, and hopes to expand testing services elsewhere across the state to as many as 5,000 tests per day.
John Minchillo/AP Photo
A patient arrives to be tested for the coronavirus at Glen Island Park, Friday, March 13, 2020, in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Drive-through testing was first established in the US in Seattle, Washington earlier this week. Denver, Colorado opened a a similar facility, which started testing patients on Wednesday.
Other sites have also since popped up across the US, including in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and California.
Drive-through sites are also available in other countries, including in South Korea, the UK, and Germany.
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