Drive-thru coronavirus testing starts in the Bay Area

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KNTV) – Northern California is seeing drive-thru coronavirus testing sites pop up.

Kaiser Permanente medical facilities opened locations in the Bay Area for patients who may have contracted COVID-19. It’s a move they say will enable doctors to safely test patients while protecting staff and minimizing exposure.

Patients who meet the criteria for a test will receive a doctor’s order and an appointment to arrive for testing at one of the sites.

Doctor Rod Mokhtai leads an eight-person medical team at one of the locations. He said the process of swabbing a patient is pretty fast. He explained, “Patients pull up, they turn off their car. Once I have the protective equipment on I go and talk with them and make sure it is the right patient. Print the label on the swab and then I go and kinda explain to them the procedure and the swab which is a little bit in the back of the throat. Each side and then up in the naris. Then it’s pretty much done after that and they can leave.”

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