Hundreds Screened For Coronavirus At Pittsburgh Zoo Using Test Kits That Give Results In Less Than 24 Hours
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It was another busy day for Central Outreach Wellness Center at the Pittsburgh Zoo as they screened hundreds of people for the coronavirus.
On Tuesday, 213 people were tested at a drive-thru site in the zoo's parking lot, but many more showed up.
Dr. Stacy Lane tells KDKA that only people meeting the CDC's criteria will get screened. Everyone else is sent home.
Central Outreach Wellness Center saw 612 cars at the zoo yesterday. They tested 308 at the zoo and 47 at their Aliquippa location, resulting with 10 and five positives cases respectively.
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Even though nearly half the people are sent home without a test, Dr. Lane said it's reassuring to just talk with a doctor about their symptoms.
"We are trying to get them to the health department quickly so they can stop other cases, but even if that's not working and we aren't actually stopping any cases because it's already in an epidemic or we aren't moving fast enough, one thing we know is we've kept over 1,000 people out of the emergency room at this point," Lane said.
One question a lot of people want to know is why are they getting tests results so fast. Dr. Lane said they are using a new test called Roche that gives them the results in less than 24 hours.
The drive thru will not be open on Wednesday, but could reopen later in the week.
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