Sentara Healthcare began drive-thru screening and testing for COVID-19 Monday at three places in Hampton Roads. It’s the first testing procedure of its kind in the state, and officials at the health system say they’re prepared to roll it out at their other facilities statewide, should it become necessary.
UPDATE: Sentara closed the drive-thru sites Wednesday afternoon because of a shortage of testing supplies. Officials called the closure temporary and say they're working with state and federal resources to get more supplies
Original Story:
The drive through screenings began Monday afternoon in Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, and Chesapeake. They’ll be open seven days a week, 10 a.m. through 6 p.m.
Sentara officials are encouraging people to self-screen before they even show up. Only people who have both symptoms and possible exposure will be screened further.
Who Should Come?
If you have any two of the following symptoms: a cough, shortness of breath, or a fever of 100.4 degrees and higher...
And have either: traveled internationally, traveled to an area with a known outbreak, or been in contact with someone who has a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19...
And are either older than 60, or have additional health issues.
Those who pass initial screenings will be screened even further by a healthcare provider.
“This is the person who’s really going to determine, based on your signs and symptoms, your health situation and your travel, and your risk exposure, whether you need to get a test,” explains Sentara spokeswoman Danya Bushey.
The test is an oral or nasal swab that gets sent away for processing. Results could take up to five days. People who are tested will be asked to self quarantine while they wait for results.
“If they have symptoms that require additional medical care then we will direct them to available services,” adds Bushey.
Sentara is not sending swabs to the state health lab in Richmond. As of Sunday, the Department of Health says they have capacity to run between 370 and 470 tests.
Instead Sentara has contracted with the private company LabCorp. Officials at Sentara did not say what LabCorp’s testing capacity was, but did confirm that there are limited resources.
“There is not the capability of mass testing,” says Jordan Asher, a doctor at Sentara who is leading up their COVID-19 response team.
That’s the reason screenings are so important, he adds. “If we just did testing you run the risk of missing someone that really should have been tested because of resource constraints.”
Asher says the Sentara health system has shared their process with other hospitals. A spokesperson for UVA Health System says they have no plans at the moment to create similar drive thru screenings. A spokeswoman for Carilion says that while they’re looking at options they don’t have definite plans yet.
Sentara’s other hospitals, like Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville or Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, are prepared to implement a similar procedure when it’s deemed necessary.
“If the need arises,” explains Asher. “We think about the need based on where active cases are. We also have to scale that up from the ability of having what we need, such as swabs.”
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
