The City of Philadelphia, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, is opening a drive-through site to provide COVID-19 coronavirus testing to identified members of the public. The Community Based Testing Site, located at Citizens Bank Park, will be open daily from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. beginning Friday, March 20, 2020. The site will be open every day during those hours as long as supplies allow.
While the Community Based Testing Site is open to the public, there are strict eligibility criteria for admission and testing. A doctor’s note or prescription is not needed to be eligible. Based on limited testing capacity, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health is restricting eligibility for testing at this site to the following groups of people:
– People over 50 years of age AND displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19 coronavirus.
– Healthcare workers displaying COVID-19 coronavirus symptoms, including:
⁍ Hospital and doctors office staff with direct patient contact
⁍ Nursing home staff with direct patient contact
⁍ People who perform Emergency Medical Services duties
⁍ Home healthcare staff with direct patient contact
The City recommends that anyone who has the following symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus call their regular healthcare provider to identify other sites to be tested for coronavirus. Most common symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus:
– Fever
– Cough
– Shortness of breath
For those in either group eligible for testing, entry into the site is only open to people in four-wheel, closed-top, non-commercial, non-recreational vehicles. Walk-ins will not be permitted access to the site.
Due to staffing and supply limitations, people who do not meet the criteria listed above will be turned away… People who meet the eligibility criteria and are seeking to be tested should bring the following items to ensure a smooth admission and testing process. Note that these items are NOT required to be tested, but will help ease processing and data collection at the site.
– Government-issued identification card
– Healthcare facility identification card, if applicable
– Insurance card
Citizens Bank Park is located at 1 Citizens Bank Way, Philadelphia, PA 19148. Entry to the site will be via Pattison Avenue. Drivers should travel south on 7th Street and turn right on Pattison Avenue. Philadelphia Police will be on-scene coordinating traffic. The site will be staffed and run by City of Philadelphia employees and volunteers from the City’s Medical Reserve Corps. The U.S. federal government is providing supplies to the City for this site, and is coordinating the delivery of and payment for the tests, and will notify people of their test results.
Stay updated on important information regarding the testing site and other COVID-19 news by texting COVIDPHL to 888-777 and by visiting the city’s official coronavirus page.
Information for this article was obtained from a release from the City o Philadelphia, Mayor’s Office of Communications, Friday, March 20 at 11:09 AM
