Long line moving through Whatcom’s now open low-barrier drive-thru testing site Friday
Whatcom County’s new drive-thru COVID-19 test site, which removes the barrier of first getting a doctor’s order to be tested, is now open, after a long line of cars had formed early Friday, July 10.
Cars are now moving into the parking lot at Civic Athletic Complex, but a line of 22 cars had formed an hour before the testing opened at 9:30 a.m. and grew to more than 50 by 9:15 a.m. The line was more than 100 cars long approximately an hour after testing opened.
As of 11:15 a.m., the line waiting to get into the Civic Stadium parking lot for testing stretched down Puget Street to Fraser Street and cars were beginning to be asked to loop into the parking lot at Frank Geri softball fields.
Though the line to get in is much longer, the process is taking approximately 30 minutes once a car reaches registration. Officials were asking people to be patient and come back later if the wait was too long, and some drivers decided to leave the line.
The wait time to reach registration during the late morning and early afternoon was just under two hours, as two cars can be tested at a time.
No restrooms are available on-site or while waiting, the Whatcom County Health Department previously said.
“As this is a pilot project, a first for us, we will debrief thoroughly to assess how it went and how the process could be improved,” Whatcom Unified Command spokesperson Amy Cloud told The Bellingham Herald in an email Friday afternoon. “In the meantime, we are grateful for the patience of those who waited in line, as well as the grace of all volunteers and medical staff who made this possible.”
People can be tested for coronavirus from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11, with a reassessment of the service later, the health department reported in a news release, Thursday, July 9. People don’t need to sign up ahead of time or pay, and they can be tested even if they don’t have symptoms or health insurance.
There are enough tests available to accommodate everyone who comes through the drive-thru testing facility, Cloud reported, with the only limit being time, space and staff resources to do the testing.
“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.
On Friday, those who wanted to be tested were asked for their identification, phone number, current address and insurance information during registration.
Testing involves 10 circles around each nostril with a swab.
Results are expected within 72 hours — those who test negative will receive a text, while people with positive tests will be called.
Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu was at the test site watching the line of cars Friday morning.
In a Facebook post made at 11:25 a.m. Friday, Whatcom Unified Command advised those who show up for testing to:
▪ Expect to wait several hours.
▪ Wear a mask.
▪ Wait in their cars and not attempt to walk up for testing.
▪ Follow flaggers’ instructions.
▪ Avoid blocking private lots or driveways.
For months, the Health Department has been saying that people can and should get tested for COVID-19 even if their symptoms are mild, because testing was available in Whatcom County — unlike the early days of the pandemic.
But testing in Whatcom County required people to have a doctor’s order, and that appears to have slowed the process, judging by the number of Whatcom residents who traveled to Skagit for testing.
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.
At least 11 health care organizations in Whatcom County regularly provide testing and at least 2,558 people can be tested each week, Lautenbach said in a media briefing on July 1.
That’s “by any standard a robust testing capacity,” she said.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 8:53 AM.
