McKeesport testing center opens
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
State and Allegheny County officials toured a new drive-thru COVID-19 testing facility Monday in the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport.
The site, located in a repurposed steel mill facility, is managed by Allegheny County Health Department in partnership with local branches of the Pennsylvania National Guard, Allegheny County Emergency Services, the McKeesport fire and police departments and ambulance service, EMS West and others.
Registration for testing began Monday and the site, located at 455 Industry Road, is slated to begin testing members of the public today.
Touring the site Monday were Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Councilman Bob Macey, state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Austin Davis, both Democrats from McKeesport, and members of the local news media.
“This is a large site that’s available to everyone. This is going to be ongoing, every day, 250 samples a day,” ACHD Director Dr. Debra Bogen said, adding that the health department modeled the site after other sites used in the eastern portion of the state soon after the pandemic’s onset.
County Emergency Services Chief Matt Brown said test results will be returned to patients within 48 hours of the nasal swab test being self-administered and sent to a state and federally approved lab.
He said pre-registeration is urged but not required.
To be eligible for testing at the McKeesport site, people must meet one of these criteria:
• Have symptoms of COVID-19.
• Have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19.
• Work in a nursing home or long-term-care facility.
• Are a critical infrastructure worker, health care worker or first responder.
• Are a high-risk patient and have recently attended a gathering of 10 or more people.
• Live in a shelter or single-room occupancy.
Cars are being directed across the road from the testing site in a parking lot that can hold up to 200 vehicles and will be ushered into two drive-thru testing lanes.
“We of course don’t expect 200 cars here all at once,” she said. “We expect people to come at set times, their appointment times. So we should never have a large backup, but it allows us to have that capacity if we need to.”
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