PLAINS, Pa. — Another testing site for COVID-19 has opened in Luzerne County and plans to test up to 200 people a day.
A steady stream of cars was showing up to the testing site being run by Rite Aid at its store on River Street in Plains Township.
Rite Aid is hosting testing like this all over the country. On Wednesday, it opened 11 more, including the location in Plains.
These are drive-thru testing sites where patients do not leave their vehicles and are doing a self-nose swab test that is overseen by a pharmacist. That test is then sent to a commercial lab. We are told by Rite Aid the results come back in about two to seven days.
Rite Aid says the site is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and they are prepared to test at least 200 people a day at the site.
This site allows for more testing than the Mohegan Sun Arena site that is limited to health care workers, first responders, and people over 65,
But there are still regulations to go through. You must be symptomatic. You must be able to drive or have someone drive you to the site, and you must register online for an appointment with a Google account.
"It really minimizes that sort of 'rush' moment, so we're not going to have 40 cars show up all at once to be tested and screened. All of that's done behind the scene; all the lab orders are done behind the scene, so we're ready, literally in the morning 9 a.m. is when we start. We can see our first car at 9 a.m. and get them out of there within three to five minutes," said Chris Altman, a clinical programs manager with Rite Aid.
Rite Aid says testing stations are cleaned in between patients and kept separated from traffic going to shop inside the store.
For its staff, they are making sure it follows CDC guidelines.
"We do provide again all the PPE that's required for the testing, and we reinforce with a lot of training and a lot of observation. Each site has a site leader that's on-site to answer questions, to make sure they are following the proper procedures, making sure they are using the hand sanitizer and replacing the PPE as needed," Altman explained.
After testing, Rite Aid says it tells people to stay quarantined until their results are ready. "We reinforce that through the whole process that the participant should continue those typical requested and recommended directions from the CDC.
Officials with Plain Township said Rite Aid did not need permission to open this site, but they hope it leads to progress.
"We all believe that the way for us all to get back to normal as quickly as possible is to have as much testing as possible," said Plains Township solicitor Stephen Menn. "That's how we're going to start getting back to normal life is having testing, but we think this is a nice alternative or option for people to use to have this test site where it is,"
The testing is open to most people who have symptoms.