The first of Dallas County’s two much-discussed mobile coronavirus testing sites opened at American Airlines Center on Saturday, providing a ray of hope to scores of people with symptoms who are clamoring for faster testing.
As the site’s 8 a.m. opening approached, dozens of cars lined up on Victory Avenue and in the parking lot next to the arena.
As of Saturday, the county had tested only a few hundred people for the new coronavirus, according to the city of Dallas website.
With the opening of the first public drive-through testing site on Saturday and another on Sunday at Ellis Davis Field House in the city’s Red Bird area, the county gains the capability to conduct 4,800 more tests per week — 2,400 at each location.
The testing sites — available to people living both in and outside of Dallas County who meet specific criteria — are the first big ramp-up in testing in the D-FW area, where the number of coronavirus cases is pushing into the hundreds.
“We got it together,” County Judge Clay Jenkins said Saturday. “There’s going to be some hiccups in emergency operation. But what I would just ask is that everybody have grace and patience."
To be tested at one of the sites, a person must have a temperature of 99.6 degrees or above and be 65 or older, a first-responder, a health care worker or a Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus driver.
The process has three phases, and at no point do people leave their vehicles.
First, people sit in their cars in two side-by-side lines, with windows up. A sign tells them not to get out of their vehicle.
Once they reach the front of the line, in the parking lot, health care workers conduct pre-screenings. If cleared to proceed, the vehicles zigzag through several rows of cones to a tented area, where patients have their temperature taken. Then they present a photo ID and fill out a consent form, and staffers prepare a patient care report.
Health care workers involved in the first two stages wore blue medical gowns, white masks and plastic face guards Saturday.
Those cleared for the final phase drive to the bottom floor of a parking garage across the street from the AAC to receive the actual COVID-19 test. That happens out of clear view of the press and the public.
Before leaving, they receive a packet with instructions on how to manage their symptoms and properly self-isolate.
Many people seeking tests did not meet the criteria. At one point, six vehicles in a row exited through a separate lane in the parking lot after being denied testing in the first stage.
“The drive-through approach is to allow for a safe, structured means to perform testing, while maintaining separation," said Randall Payton, incident commander in charge of the process at both testing sites. "Measures have been taken to protect the safety and health of the individuals participating, as well as the staff conducting the test.”
The first vehicle in line completed the process in 25 minutes. Other people who cleared the first phase may have had longer waits as vehicles collected in line, but later in the morning, vehicles were moving through with waits of no more than few minutes.
The site will open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. FedEx will pick up testing samples twice a day, with a quality assurance team overseeing the hand-off.
Officials said results would be reported to the tested people within three to five days. Rocky Vaz, director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management, said planning and setup for the site took 72 hours. Fifty people have been assigned to manage the site.
Jenkins indicated that he thought the federal government had fallen short in helping with the process.
“I wish the feds had set up a pre-screening process, but they didn’t,” he said.
Vaz said that the 2,400 tests being provided weekly at each site was what the federal government promised and that he was hopeful that that capacity would continue.
The massive electronic sign outside American Airlines Center displayed a continuous stream of messages, including advertisements for events coming in the summer. Suddenly, up popped a message reminding people to practice “social distancing” to block the spread of the virus.
During big concerts and the NBA and NHL seasons, the arena is electric with activity and the parking lots are packed. These days, with sports and concerts on hiatus, the building is unused.
Saturday, though, the center became ground zero for the city’s testing effort.
The need for the sites was unquestioned. State and county health officials had been saying for days that case numbers would increase exponentially. Indeed, Dallas County has been seeing double-digit jumps daily, and numbers are surging in neighboring counties, as well.
“The benefits for increased testing is to help us identify, and then the person can have that confirmation and can make sure that they isolate and don’t get out and spread this further in the community," said Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas County’s health director. "That’s what they’re trying to do.”
