Drive through coronavirus test clinic in KCK has 100 kits, but you need a prescription
A Kansas City, Kansas, health care clinic saw patients Friday in a drive through COVID-19 testing center.
Testing, however, is only available to those with a prescription or who have been directed by county health officials to be tested.
“We still in the United States do not have enough tests for everyone that needs it so we are only testing people who meet symptomatic criteria,” said Sharon Lee, a physician and co-founder of Sharon Lee Family Health Care.
Her clinic is the latest in a number of health care providers in the country to offer drive through testing services. Lee said she offered to start the clinic, in conjunction with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, on Tuesday because the county indicated they did not have the resources and expertise to execute the testing on their own.
Similar clinics have been set up for Saint Luke’s patients in Blue Springs, the Northland and Overland Park.
The Wyandotte County clinic has access to about 100 test kits and is staffing a phone line for people with questions. People are asked to call their primary care physician if they believe they are exhibiting symptoms but can also call the “warm line” between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. at 913-396-7070.
The testing center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. As of Friday morning, Lee said, the clinic had tested about 12 people but received 100 calls.
People who are tested do not leave their cars. The test, which is a swab placed in the back of the nose, takes about five minutes. It takes about three days for the results to come back, Lee said.
“It’s not a comfortable procedure but it’s what we need to do,” Lee said.
Workers are wearing masks, goggles, gloves and other protective gear.
People who qualify for testing are those who have particular symptoms and have already tested negative for the flu, Lee said.
Anyone who comes to the clinic and does not have a prescription, a number from the phone line or has tested negative for the flu will be asked to return home and shelter in place.
“They should be taking the same precautions that everyone else is only more so,” Lee said. “That is hand washing, number one. Number two, hand washing. And number three, hand washing.”
They should also stay out of crowds, she said, going out only when necessary.
“It’s going to take all of us paying attention,” she said.
The clinic will serve residents of Johnson and Wyandotte County where the disease is most widespread in Kansas. 24 people have preliminarily tested positive for the virus in Johnson County. There are nine cases in Wyandotte County.
Guidance for testing in Johnson County, however, was limited Wednesday to those who are hospitalized with symptoms in order to conserve resources after the county reached community transmission.
