Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing Site Prepared In Montgomery County

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — The mass testing site being prepared in Montgomery County will be a drive-thru facility, authorities said Tuesday, providing the first update on the in-progress facility which will be used to help handle an increase in coronavirus testing needs.

The tents are currently set up in the parking lot in front of Audubon Elementary School on Egypt Road. It's not clear yet if this is the location where the testing site will be opened, or if it is a staging area.

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There is no opening date yet for this facility, but it's a matter of when, not if, it will open. There are also plans for a mass testing site in Philadelphia, state authorities said.

As the virus spreads, one of the major concerns has been the stress which it will place on the healthcare system. Hospitals are planning to have their resources stretched to the limit. Officials said they will not be able to test everyone.

"I really am very empathetic with the public's desire for information on whether or not they're positive," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said. "I get that. But, as I stressed before, testing is not broadly available, and even with a new testing site, it's still not going to be widely available."

The news came as the number of quarantined individuals rose to 471 Tuesday, from 416 Monday. There were also four new cases of coronavirus found in the county Tuesday, bringing the county total to 34.

There were no updates available on the condition of any of these patients, or if any were yet fully recovered.

One of them is from community spread of the virus, according to officials. The new positives include:

• 72-year-old woman from Upper Providence, hospitalized, source of infection unknown, and is likely community spread.
• 31-year-old woman from Lower Providence, at home, had contact with another positive case in Montgomery County
• 39-year-old man from Lower Salford, at home, extensively traveled around the U.S. and it's not clear where he was infected
• 42-year-old man from Lower Providence, at home, infected by another Montgomery County positive

The total number of presumptive positives in Pennsylvania rose to 96 Tuesday afternoon.