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Drive-through testing centers are opening around the US - photos show how the makeshift operations check people for coronavirushttps://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/drive-through-testing-centers-are-opening-around-the-us-photos-show-how-the-makeshift-operations-check-people-for-coronavirus/slidelist/74748932.cms2020-03-21T18:17:04+05:30

Drive-through testing centers are opening around the US - photos show how the makeshift operations check people for coronavirus

Mar 21, 2020, 18:17 IST

Tents, trailers, and other makeshift structures have been set up to create temporary drive-through testing facilities, like this one in New Rochelle, New York.

Workers must wear protective equipment to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus while administering tests, though some are reporting supply shortages.

Hundreds of people have lined up to find out whether they have the virus, like those in Denver, where the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is offering free testing.

Here, cars line up to await instructions from healthcare workers at a testing site in Denver.

In New York and Colorado, members of the National Guard have also been mobilized to help administer the tests, so healthcare workers must train them first.

Patients are told to keep their windows up to minimize workers' exposure to the virus.

They're then asked to hold driver's licenses and other documents up to the window so workers can collect their information from outside the vehicle.

Workers then collect a nasal swab, which can feel pretty uncomfortable, but is generally not painful.

While cases in the US have been more concentrated among older age groups, recent research suggests children can get sick as well, often without displaying clear symptoms.

Workers then place the swab in a sterile container.

That container goes into a separate bag to ensure the virus doesn't spread to other surfaces.

Workers take extra care to disinfect before and after administering tests to limit the spread of the disease.

The swabs are then sent to labs for testing. It can take several days before patients get their results.

While the US still lags far behind other countries, the drive-through sites are helping it ramp up testing.

New drive-through locations are opening every day, like this one at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas.

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