Health & Fitness

Less Than 1 Percent Positive Rate For Melrose Drive-Thru Testing

More than 1,500 were tested Friday and Saturday in the high school parking lot.

There were 13 positive tests as a result of the drive-thru testing Friday and Saturday.
There were 13 positive tests as a result of the drive-thru testing Friday and Saturday. (Mike Carraggi/Patch)

MELROSE, MA — Less than 1 percent of the more than 1,500 tested over two days at a drive-thru testing site here were positive for the coronavirus.

Health Director Ruth Clay said Sunday night that 1,527 people were tested Friday and Saturday in the high school parking lot. Thirteen of those tests came back positive, with one being from out of town.

The testing was set up by Mayor Paul Brodeur after an increase in COVID-19 cases in the city. The drive-thru testing site proved so popular Friday — many people reported waiting up to three hours to be tested — that Brodeur secured an extension for Saturday.

Find out what's happening in Melrosefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

There were 258 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Melrose as of Thursday afternoon, according to Clay. The additional 12 positive brings the updated total to at least 270. As of last Monday, there were 27 deaths related to COVID-19 in the city.

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