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. 2020 Mar 23;35(11):e123.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e123.

Drive-Through Screening Center for COVID-19: a Safe and Efficient Screening System against Massive Community Outbreak

Affiliations

Drive-Through Screening Center for COVID-19: a Safe and Efficient Screening System against Massive Community Outbreak

Ki Tae Kwon et al. J Korean Med Sci. .

Abstract

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is ongoing, the number of individuals to be tested for COVID-19 is rapidly increasing. For safe and efficient screening for COVID-19, drive-through (DT) screening centers have been designed and implemented in Korea. Herein, we present the overall concept, advantages, and limitations of the COVID-19 DT screening centers. The steps of the DT centers include registration, examination, specimen collection, and instructions. The entire service takes about 10 minutes for one testee without leaving his or her cars. Increased testing capacity over 100 tests per day and prevention of cross-infection between testees in the waiting space are the major advantages, while protection of staff from the outdoor atmosphere is challenging. It could be implemented in other countries to cope with the global COVID-19 outbreak and transformed according to their own situations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Drive-through; Outbreak; SARS-CoV-2; Screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Illustration of DT COVID-19 screening center provided for the public.
For public information, a simplified illustration of the DT COVID-19 screening center should be provided through internet websites or leaflets. DT = drive-through, COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019.

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