Healthcare provider PhysicianOne Urgent Care is stepping up its efforts to offer COVID-19 testing for everyone who needs to be tested.
The organization hosted its sixth and seventh single day drive-thru testing event in West Hartford and Bristol on Sunday.
Health leaders say testing is imperative for mitigating and tracking COVID-19 for those who live throughout Hartford county.
Suspected COVID-19 patients go through a pre-screening process where there are asked a series of questions to understand if they have virus symptoms.
Melanie White is the Area Operations Manager for PhysicianOne Urgent Care who says that the testing process is easy.
"We are encouraging patients to pre-register when we have the single-day events or during a regular day either through our website or by calling," said White. "After patients go through the screening, they can set up a time to come and complete the test."
PhysicianOne Urgent Care is offering to test essential workers (including healthcare workers, first responders, postal workers, grocery store employees) even if they show no symptoms.
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The drive-thru testing option is an extra measure to get as many people tested as possible.
"Our everyday testing is just adding access to testing for the community and the residents of West Hartford," said Lisa Shakun, physician assistant with PhysicianOne Urgent Care. "We are testing patients who are symptomatic and we are testing asymptomatic health care workers and essential employees."
West Hartford leaders say the boost in testing is imperative to help keep track of those who do and do not have the virus.
"Testing is critical for us to mitigate the spread of COVID-19," said West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor. "It is going to be essential for us to get back to a sense of normalcy."