Walgreens pharmacies in seven states will soon offer drive-thru coronavirus testing stations.
The nationwide retailer announced on Tuesday its partnership with Abbott Laboratories to offer rapid-result coronavirus tests for patients in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. The COVID-19 test produced by Abbott can deliver results in 13 minutes. In total, 15 stores will offer the testing services.
Walgreens has yet to announce the exact locations for the drive-thru testing centers but noted that the company had been in talks with the Department of Health and Human Services to determine the best “hot spot” location for the centers to be located. The company noted that 3,000 people per day could be tested in the centers, which could open by the end of the week.
“Walgreens remains committed to working with federal, state, and local governments, as well as industry partners to meet the needs of the communities we serve across the country during the pandemic,” said Walgreens President Richard Ashworth in a press release.
He added, “We’re continuing to do everything we can, both with our own resources and also by partnering with others, to serve as an access point within the community for COVID-19 testing. Opening our first drive-thru testing location last month has allowed us to quickly learn and develop an efficient and scalable process, and we’re pleased to be working with Abbott to help accelerate our efforts and to enable quick results for those being tested.”
Patients will need to preregister to make an appointment for their drive-thru test, but most tests will be free as long as individuals qualify under the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Tuesday, more than 378,000 people in the United States had tested positive for coronavirus. Nearly 12,000 have died since testing positive, while more than 20,000 have fully recovered from the illness.
