Drive-thru coronavirus testing began Tuesday at Bryan Health’s Lifepointe location in south Lincoln. Bryan Health officals say the turnout was strong. Testing could change going forward.
Latest news & resources: netNebraska.org/coronavirus
Tuesday was the first day of Bryan Health’s drive thru testing for COVID-19 in Lincoln. The testing is fairly simple. People are referred by their doctor, they drive up and get a swab of their mouth. That is tested first for influenza and second for respiratory illnesses and if those are all negative, it’s tested for COVID-19. The first two stages take about 24 hours for results. If they test negative, the tests are sent to a lab for the COVID-19 testing. John Woodrich, CEO of Bryan Health says the first day of testing went smoothly.
“As of now we handled yesterday well,” Woodrich said. ”Today of the 60 slots we have 35 scheduled patients that will increase throughout the morning, because a lot of people are being screened either with their physician or through the EZVisit. And those calls have come into our scheduling center.”
Woodrich says the three stage test could change if they continue to see zero positive tests for influenza.
“So to see that we tested 54 people and we're at zero (positive influenza tests) is probably giving us a sign that the social distancing is working, and it's having an impact,” Woodrich said. ”So we will continue to monitor this. We've only had one day now of doing this. But if we start to see that we're at zero for the influenza, we will probably stop that test as part of the testing.”
The testing is open from 2-6 p.m., seven days a week. Bryan Health’s ezVisit website is offering free online visits to anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms. There is also a promo code on the website for the visit to waive the regular fee.
Latest news & resources: netNebraska.org/coronavirus