Western Pa. patients line up for drive-by coronavirus testing

Patients concerned they might have been exposed to covid-19 were able to take advantage of drive-by testing at three locations Monday across Western Pennsylvania, and the testing is expected to be offered Tuesday, as well.

Central Outreach Wellness Center, with locations on the North Shore, Aliquippa and Washington, had about 100 test kits available for people who had symptoms of the virus.

Nina Jo Washington, a registered nurse with the center, said they planned to begin testing at 11 a.m. but instead started when patients began showing up at 9 a.m.

“We’d be remiss if we did not do this for the community,” she said.

There was a steady line of vehicles that stretched out of the North Shore parking lot and onto Isabella Street. The line was about a dozen cars long by noon. Medical staff, wearing masks and gloves, took paperwork to car windows, screening patients for symptoms and other risk factors.

The medical staff was supposed to receive a delivery of the nasal swabs most commonly used to test for the virus, but those didn’t show up, Washington said. For patients who were able to, they took a sputum sample – an alternative to nasal swabs.

“People are bringing entire families,” she said, stressing that staff were testing only those who had symptoms: a fever, shortness of breath and dry cough.

She said one woman arrived with three children in the car with her. None of them had symptoms, but the woman begged for a test. She told Washington that her husband might have come in contact at work with someone who could have been exposed, and he wasn’t taking it seriously.

Washington stressed that the public shouldn’t panic or overreact. If they’re sick but don’t have the covid-19 symptoms, they should just stay home and monitor their health.

“We’ll probably be out here doing this tomorrow as well,” she said.

Patients should bring their ID and insurance card, though Medical Director Dr. Stacy Lane said in a release that no one would be turned away because of an inability to pay.

For more information, visit centraloutreach.com or call 412-525-0000.