Get a close-up look at the drive-up coronavirus testing offered in this rural community

At Ampla Health’s drive-through coronavirus test site in Yuba City, you don’t have to be a patient to get screened and tested.

“Anybody in our community who wants to receive a screening, who believes they need a test for coronavirus, they are welcome to come,” said Rocio Valdez, director of communications.

The drive-through location screens patients by checking their temperature and asking them a series of questions from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including whether they have a dry cough. Patients who don’t meet the testing criteria are sent home.

“We are happy to report that at least we are also giving some peace of mind to the community by them going back home knowing that their symptoms are noncoronavirus related.”

Some of the patients coming in don’t speak English, but Ampla has a bilingual staff to help. It is also offering the services regardless of ability to pay.

A drive-though testing site at Cal Expo in Sacramento, run by Google sister company Verily, offers a similar service.

For more information, go to Ampla’s website at www.amplahealth.org

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 4:30 AM.