Hundreds Wait In Line For Hours In Pittsburgh Zoo Parking Lot For Coronavirus Screening, Many Turned Away
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Two single-file lines of cars, side by side, wrapped and weaved the entire length of Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium's massive parking lot.
But the Central Outreach Wellness Center only had 400 tests on hand, so they had to turn many people away from their Coronavirus drive-thru testing event.
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Posted by KDKA-TV | CBS Pittsburgh on Monday, March 23, 2020
The beauty of Monday's drive-thru test clinic is that you did not have to have a prescription in hand from your doctor.
The doctors screened patients, and if it was found they needed a test, they'd write you a prescription on the spot.
They tested 400 today and will see 255 people Tuesday.
"The people that were screening today were testing about 1/3 of the cars," said Dr. Stacy Lane, founder of the Central Outreach Wellness Center.
The people in the cars waited for hours, many of them wearing masks on their faces, gloves visible on the steering wheel.
"They're screened by NPs or doctors. We're screening them for CDC criteria, so that means we have to have people that are high risk, because they have health conditions with symptoms, people that are a known contact to a confirmed case, and people that have traveled through the hot zones," said Lane.
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She said those hot zones include New York, Seattle, or if you've recently traveled out of the country.
She said the majority of the young people who showed up with symptoms, but without any other health conditions were turned away and told to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Dr. Lane says the staff was turning away people who did not currently exhibit three main symptoms: fever, worsening dry cough and shortness of breath
Those tested today should hear back in one to two days.
More information on the Coronavirus pandemic: