The University of Washington is rapidly expanding its ability to test people for COVID-19. A drive-thru testing site is already up and running at UW Medical in North Seattle that can test 40 to 50 people per day.
Right now it’s only available to employees and students, but UW Medical plans to expand that testing later this week to include first responders, employees at long-term care facilities and UW patients showing symptoms.
“We need widespread testing right now,” said Dr. Seth Cohen, Medical Director for Infection Prevention at UW Medicine. “There's urgency around it,” he said.
It launched a drive-thru test site at one of the parking garages at its Northwest campus on Friday.
There are three tents – one is used to hold supplies for cleaning and things like gloves and gowns, while the other two tents are used for scheduling, holding patients’ protected heath information, and test kits.