Medford Opens Coronavirus Drive-Through Testing Site For The Day
MEDFORD (CBS) -- A coronavirus testing site opened for the day at the PhysicianOne Urgent Care Medford on Saturday.
A stream of cars poured into a drive-through COVID-19 testing site in Medford as PhysicianOne Urgent Care teamed up with the town to offer free testing by licensed health care providers.
"Today we are going to do 205 tests," Medford Mayor Brianna Lungo-Koehn said. "We are in a central location in Wellington Circle."
While patients did not need to be a current patient of the PhysicianOne Urgent Care, they did need to be approved by the staff online or over the phone before coming to the drive-through site.
"As we are testing patients for COVID, evaluating them and ensuring the community is safe, protected, not feeling isolated from medical care. ..." said PhysicianOne Urgent Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jeannie Kenkare.
Health officials say testing and tracking folks is vital to help stop the rapid spread of the virus. Patients coming through on Saturday all had to be pre-screened by a PhysicianOne Urgent Care provider.
"One hundred percent of people are anxious, and we are able to provide that expert medical advice in a compassionate contactless setting right now," said PhysicianOne CEO Lynne Rosen.
The tests are specifically for individuals from surrounding cities and towns who are showing symptoms of COVID 19.
Medford Mayor Lungo-Koehn and city officials are working to secure more test kits, a statement from PhysicianOne said, and when they become available, the drive-through site will reopen.
The turnaround time for results is about three to five business days.