Drive-thru COVID-19 testing may face Chicago winter test
Administering exam outdoors may be tricky
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get much worse, here’s a new question to ponder: Will drivethru COVID-19 testing still be offered when snow and arctic temperatures hitChicago?
In short, theanswer is yes and no.
Some health systems, such as Advocate Aurora Health, plan to move COVID-19 testing in Illinois fully indoors for the winter. Others, such as Amita Health hospitals, Walgreens, CVSHealth andNorthShore University HealthSystem, expect to keep testing people in their cars, even as Chicagoans pull out their parkas and ice scrapers.
Oneof the main purposes of drive-thru COVID-19 testing is to keep people who may have the illness isolated fromothers.
“We’re going to be like theU.S. Postal Service,” said Robert Dahl, president and CEOof AmitaHealth Saints
Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago.
Patients can crank up the heat in their cars, but the trickier part will be making sure that those administering the tests staywarm.
Saints Mary and Elizabeth hospital workers are stationed in a tent near where people drive up for testing. In colder weather, space heaters and/or heat lamps will likely be added to the tent. Protective gear will have to be large enough to fit warmer layers underneath, Dahl said.
“If you’ve ever been in the full personal protective equipment with the PAPR (power air-purifying respirator), it is so darn hot,” Dahl said. “This type of weather now feels comfortable, but 20 below, not so much.”
The hospital is also looking into potentially getting a trailer to keep staff warm, he said. The site provides drive-thru testing three days aweek and does about 40 to 50 tests a day, he said. Patients can register and get doctors’ orders in advance or on-site.
NorthShore and Walgreens also plan to add heaters to their outdoor drive-thru testing locations.
Walgreens and CVS also offer drive-thru COVID-19 testing at prescription pickup windows at some of their stores. Patients who use those windows administer their tests themselves, with guidance from pharmacyworkers.
CVS has nearly 170 drivethru testing locations in Illinois, and Walgreens has 36.
Rush University System for Health has three drivethru testing sites, and is evaluating howbest to keep those open during the winter, spokesmanCharlie Jolie said in an email.
Eleven drive-thru testing locations operated by the state will stay open this winter, with tents and heaters.
The Chicago Department of Public Health operates three drive-thru testing sites, as well as mobile units for drive-thru testing and is “looking into potential options for winterized sites,” spokeswoman Elena Ivanova said in an email.