Coronavirus: New York City Opens its first drive-thru coronavirus testing site

New York City’s first coronavirus testing site is located at a drive-thru facility in Staten Island, there is one basic rule though, which is to keep your car windows closed. These tests were advertised as by appointment only.  But this didn’t stop Muhammad Qureshi from getting his nose swabbed.

Muhammad Qureshi while explaining the process said that:

“They just go up your nostrils and it’s like a two-second process. The testing area, the hot zone, is a cordoned-off area, but it’s fine. They said they would call with the results within two, three days. We’re fine but we’re in the retail business and she’s diabetic, so we just wanted to get tested.”

 Qureshi drove up to the site with his wife, Rubab Abid, Vehicles were lined up in the parking lot of the South Beach Psychiatric Center, near Staten Island University Hospital North, here nurses are in full Tyvek suits and collected information in an area called the “hot zone.” High-risk and symptomatic patients are prioritised.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos added that:

 “Things are going smoothly so far. It’s all hands on deck. No windows down until you get all the way to the swab itself and then its windows back up. We have stern site safety, strict site security. We have safety operators in site patrolling and looking for any violations.”

The test includes a nasal swab that must go all the way up a patient’s nose. Experts have said the process can be invasive and sore, but it is way simple and quick.

 This is the third testing site in New York state. The other two are located in New Rochelle, Westchester County and Jones Beach, Long Island.