Here’s when you can be tested for COVID-19 at new drive-thru site in Bellingham
Up to 300 people could be tested for COVID-19 over two days at the Civic Athletic Complex as part of a new effort that allows people to be tested for the respiratory illness without first getting a doctor’s order.
It’s meant to lower barriers to testing at a time that the illness continues to spread in Whatcom County. People can get tested, regardless of whether they have insurance.
“Anyone who needs to or wants to get testing can go to this site,” Erika Lautenbach, director for the Whatcom County Health Department, said to The Bellingham Herald.
Drive-thru testing at the site in Bellingham will run 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11. People don’t need to sign up ahead of time, and they can be tested even if they don’t have symptoms.
“Anyone can be tested. Certainly, if someone is experiencing symptoms or is a close contact of a confirmed case, they should definitely be tested,” Amy Cloud, spokesperson for Whatcom Unified Command, said in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
The new testing service is a joint operation among Whatcom Unified Command, the Whatcom County Health Department, Northwest Laboratory, the city of Bellingham, county EMS services and the county’s medical reserve corps.
Based in Bellingham, Northwest Laboratory has been offering COVID-19 testing since the end of March — in the still early days of the pandemic.
The expanded testing effort will gauge demand and determine the next steps.
“The Health Department is committed to providing low-barrier access to testing going forward. After this initial two-day pilot, we’ll be able to get a better sense of what the needs are, where there may be gaps, and the most appropriate ways to meet the need for testing,” Cloud said.
Cloud said officials don’t know exactly how many people will show up but are prepared to test 250 to 300 people over the two days.
People should be patient, and expect a line or be willing to come back if it’s busy, Lautenbach said.
“We’re getting a lot of calls,” Lautenbach said, adding that employers have said they will send their workers to the site for testing as a preventative measure.
Officials decided to offer the service here because Whatcom residents were driving down to Skagit County, where testing was faster and easier because they didn’t have to first get a doctor’s order to be tested.
Whatcom residents received nearly 26% — or 755 — of the 2,953 tests done June 22-July 2 at the site overseen by the Skagit County Health Department, according to information provided to The Bellingham Herald by Skagit officials.
Skagit County officials opened their drive-thru testing site to the public at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon on April 27. In mid-May, they expanded testing to people who don’t have symptoms, known as asymptomatic, of COVID-19, but feel they need to be tested.
How it will work in Whatcom
To be tested starting on Friday, enter the Civic Athletic Complex from the north at Puget Street via Fraser Street. You will be instructed where to drive. Flaggers will help with traffic flow.
You must stay in your vehicle, and follow all instructions at the site to ensure the safety of workers, volunteers and others seeking testing, according to a news release on Thursday, July 9.
No public restrooms will be available.
Make sure to bring your insurance and a form of identification. The testing should cost you nothing.
When it’s your turn, there will be an intake with public health nurses getting your contact — for follow-up after test results are available — and insurance information. If you don’t have insurance, someone will work with you to fill out a form so that the lab can be reimbursed for your test.
Whatcom County Health Department workers and volunteers organized through Whatcom Unified Command are staffing the site. Medically trained volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps will help swab people for the test.
After being tested, you will be told what to do next.
Northwest Laboratory will process the tests within 24 hours and results will be shared with people within 24 to 72 hours, with priority on notifying those who have tested positive as soon as possible.
Lautenbach said the hope is that the entire testing process will go smoothly and take a total of 15 minutes, including intake.
She said people can get tested even if they don’t have an ID, adding that she didn’t want people to worry that they will be turned away if they don’t have legal status.
Personal information will be used by the Health Department only and is meant to help expedite the process, according to Lautenbach.
This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 1:08 PM.
