175 Show Up For Waltham Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing

WALTHAM, MA - Wednesday afternoon dozens of cars lined up in the parking lot at the corner of Main Street and Prospect Hill as urgent care workers dressed head to toe in white protective gear tested them for the new coronavirus.

Anyone feeling symptoms and wanting to get tested were required to have a pre-screening call with the urgent care Friday, to ensure they should go ahead with the test Saturday.

According to the president of AFC Urgent Care, 350 people were screened via telehealth Friday. They issued 200 doctors notes for Saturday.

"And today 175 of those patients were tested from Waltham and it’s area communities in our AFC Urgent Care drive thru clinic," said David Adams, president of American Family Care Urgent Care.

A few weeks ago 90 percent of the clinic's patients who got tested, tested positive for flu, results of which come back immediately, as do results for strep, according to Adams.

"Today fewer than 2 percent of our patients and 1 percent tested positive for flu and strep, respectfully," he said. "All were tested for COVID-19 but this will have a two to five days lag for results typically, but the labs are pretty backed up now so may take longer."

All who were tested Saturday were directed to self-quarantine until results return or until 14 days are up.

"We treated some pretty sick patients today," said Adams. "We helped a lot of people and our team is very proud to have been able to support the Waltham community."

The president of the urgent care said because of the limited amount of test kits, it was not clear if the Waltham location would offer the test again in such fashion.

More than 195,000 Americans have been tested across the U.S. less than 20,000 of which tested positive, according to Vice President Mike Pence Saturday.