PORT ANGELES – We learned at Tuesday morning’s COVID-19 briefing that of the 12 positive cases of the virus so far in our county, 10 of those patients have fully recovered. Undersheriff Ron Cameron also said that Clallam County Emergency Management is looking at the possibility of setting up a drive-thru testing station for coronavirus. Increased testing will be one of the necessary elements of getting people back to work in the coming weeks or months.
Cameron has asked EOC Coordinator Anne Chastain to take a look at the Kitsap County drive-thru model.
“And so in advance of all this, what I’ve asked Anne to do is maybe take a kind of a little group to go down and check out the Kitsap model that was set up last week and see how they’re doing things. I have a lot of questions. Not just in the makeup of how this will be done, but administratively, costs associated with it and that kind of thing.”
Right now in Kitsap County, the tests are available for medical workers, first responders, people working in essential services, people employed by the Department of Defense, and people in high risk groups. But only if they are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
County Health Officer Allison Berry Unthank told KONP that people here can still get tested, under similar conditions, by their primary care provider. She says drive-thru is being looked at as another alternative.
The drive-thru testing model allows people to remain in their cars as they are tested through rolled down windows. The University of Washington testing lab has a 24-48 hour turnaround on test results.