Coronavirus testing sites began to appear in March 2020. The major pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens adapted their existing prescription pickup drive thru so that customers could get tested for Covid-19. Appointments had to be made online and testing could not be performed inside the pharmacy. Their were specific instructions for this kind of test: “In drive-through testing, the person undergoing testing remains in a vehicle while a healthcare professional approaches the vehicle and obtains a sample, all while taking appropriate precautions such as wearing personal protective equipment (PPE)” (Wikipedia).
On March 20, 2020 the first coronavirus drive thru testing site opened in New Jersey attracting long lines of vehicles. An NBC News article describes the scene: “Hundreds of cars, some with a single passenger and others packed with four, were lined up Friday morning at Bergen Community College in Paramus, located about 20 miles from Manhattan, to get tested for coronavirus, according to NorthJersey.com. The National Guard was brought in to assist state police with monitoring the testing site” (Burke).
When Covid testing was at its peak it was virtually impossible to find a location anywhere that had an opening. I remember trying to find a spot at CVS, Walgreens and Quest Diagnostics only to find they had no availability.
The UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care provided a how to guide for self-swabbing when going to a drive thru Covid testing site:
Social Media Trends as of May 13, 2022
Facebook #drivethrutesting: people are posting about this
Instagram #drivethrutesting: 2,783 posts
TikTok #drivethrutesting: 178,800 views
YouTube #drivethrutesting: less than 100 videos and channels
Google Trends: drive thru testing appeared during the week of March 8, 2020 when Covid testing centers started to pop up across the nation. During the peak of various Covid waves, the search term spiked as people tried to find testing locations where there was still availability. The term peaked in Christmas 2021 when the Omicron variant was rapidly spreading everywhere.
Sources:
Burke, Minyvonne. “New coronavirus drive-thru test sites open, drawing huge lines: ‘Not for the worried well.” NBC News. March 20, 2020. URL: https://www.nbc
news.com/news/us-news/new-coronavirus-drive-thru-test-sites-open-drawing-huge-lines-n1164771.
“Drive through testing”. Wikipedia. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_testing#Drive-through_testing.
Elly | Corporate Millennial. “When you can’t get a Covid test anywhere.” TikTok. 2021. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/video/7052491365678058758.
“How to self-swab in your car at a Regional Test Site or Mobile Test Unit.” Department of Health and Social Care. UK Government. June 16, 2020. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QawyKwIIfKQ.