© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Douglas County Pilots Drive-Thru Coronavirus Sample Testing

Courtesy of Douglas County

 

Douglas County is one of the first counties in Oregon to trial COVID-19 drive-thru testing. Physicians were stationed at the county fairgrounds parking lot, on Monday in Roseburg. They sampled 17 pre-registered patients during the pilot run.

 

The samples have been sent to a Quest Diagnostics Lab in San Juan Capistrano, CA for testing. Douglas County Public Health Officer Bob Dannenhoffer said they expect results within a few days.

“It was quite an event,” Dannenhoffer said at a press conference recounting the drive-thru clinic, on Wednesday. He said all 17 patients had doctor's orders to participate.

While patients, stayed in their vehicles, physicians conducted nasopharyngeal swabs. The technique involves the insertion of a swab through the nose and reaching five to six inches to the back of the nose and throat.

“When we did the test, our workers were in maximal [personal protective equipment], so that they would not get infected and were able to use special personal respirators so that people would not be at all exposed to the germs,” Dannenhoffer said. 

Monday’s clinic was modeled after drive-thru flu vaccinations the county has done in the past. The difference here was the special consideration for public safety and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which includes things like masks and gloves.

“Instead of having providers have to dawn all of the gown, and the new face masks, and the gloves, and everything for each individual patient, we were able to bring consecutive people in,” said Douglas County Public Health Network spokesperson Vanessa Becker. 

“Of course, they changed their gloves and other things, but they were able to have the same face mask on,” she said.

At a time when medical supplies are becoming increasingly hard to come by, Becker said this operation could help make the most of available supplies.

Each test took about four minutes, and Dannenhoffer said they could potentially ramp up sample collecting during future dive-thru clinics.

“We had [on Monday] tyvek suits taped on, portable respirators, no chance to go to the bathroom, so we don’t think we can have testers do this for more than four hours at a time,” Dannenhoffer said. He estimates testers could swab up to 60 patients while donning a full set of PPE. 

The county is developing plans to expand drive-thru sample gathering across the county. Dannenhoffer said other cities and counties have inquired about setting up their own sites. However, he stressed the need for partnerships like the one established between Douglas County and Quest Diagnostics.

“No one organization could set this up on their own,” Dannenhoffer said, “You’re really going to truly need a bunch of people working carefully together to get this done.”

 

©? 2020 KLCC

 

Melorie Begay is a multimedia journalist for KLCC News. She was the Inaugural KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She has a bachelors in Multimedia Journalism from the University of New Mexico. She previously interned at KUNM public radio in Albuquerque, NM and served as a fellow for the online news publication New Mexico In Depth.