Drive-thru testing sites open as coronavirus pandemic rages
EWING » As the spread of coronavirus paralyzes New Jersey, two new drivethru testing centers quietly opened in Mercer County.
At least 100 people were tested at drive-thru testing centers in West Windsor and Ewing townships, Dr. Seeta Arjun, CEO of InFocus Urgent Care, told The Trentonian on Tuesday.
The centers opened Sunday at InFocus branches at The College of New Jersey on Campus Town Circle and the Windsor Plaza on Princeton Hightstown Road, allowing patients to get tested for the respiratory illness without leaving their vehicles.
The drive-thru testing centers in Mercer County are among only three in the Garden State. One in Secaucus opened up last week at the Riverside Medical Group’s command center, NJ Advance Media reported.
The drive-thru model helps reduce risk of spreading the virus. Patients must call ahead and get screened before being tested to see if they meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria for COVID testing.
Those who are showing symptoms or have a known exposure to COVID-19 are tested, Arjun said. The centers are also testing for strep throat and the flu, which can mimic symptoms of the coronavirus.
Results for the coronavirus usually take about three days, Arjun said, and any presumed positive test results are shared with the state Department of Health.
Arjun would not say whether any of the patients tested at the two Mercer County locations were positive for coronavirus.
Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann told The Trentonian on Tuesday that at least one
Pennington resident tested in Ewing came back positive for the illness.
Four other patients are from Princeton, including a woman who works at Princeton University. They were exposed to the virus at a Feb. 29 house party in the township, officials said.
The Trentonian reached out to all of Mercer County’s 12 municipalities for information on any positive presumed cases and the number of residents tested in each town to get a better understanding of the local impact of the virus.
Mercer County spokeswoman Julie Willmot said the county Executive Brian Hughes’ office was receiving regular updates from state officials on presumed positive cases.
She said it was difficult to track the number of people tested across Mercer County since many may be tested by private healthcare providers.
Health officials have advised people to wash their hands and practice social distancing by staying at least six feet away from each other to try to contain the spread of the coronavirus.