The US has started to ramp up its efforts to test people for the novel corona virus after weeks of delays and missteps in the development and rollout of the tests.
As part of that effort, cities across the US have been opening drive-through testing centers this week.
Drive-through testing stations can help protect healthcare workers from direct exposure to coronavirus and get more people tested more quickly.
The pop-up operations are run by a variety of groups, from state and local governments to pharmacies.
Governments across the US have been opening up drive-through testing centers to screen people for the novel coronavirus, as the country scrambles to get a better handle on how widely the disease has spread.
The US is significantly behind on testing people for coronavirus compared to countries like South Korea and China, due to a series of delays and missteps trying to develop and roll out its own testing kits.
However, the US is finally starting to increase its testing capacity. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that New York had processed 10,000 new coronavirus tests overnight. He said that the state is now testing at a higher per-capita rate than South Korea or China — though it still lags far behind those countries in terms of the total number of people tested.
New York opened its first drive-through testing facility this week in New Rochelle, which has been the epicenter of the state's earliest confirmed cases. Additional locations have sprung up as the US attempts to make up for lost time.
"We've been in discussions with pharmacies and retailers to make drive-through tests available in the critical locations identified by public-health officials," President Trump said in a news conference last week.
The US now appears following the lead of South Korea, which has tested more than 140,000 people — many via drive-through locations that can administer tests in under 10 minutes, Reuters reported. This approach also helps limit healthcare workers' exposure to the coronavirus.
Here's what the drive-through operations look like across the US.
Tents, trailers, and other makeshift structures have been set up to create temporary drive-through testing facilities, like this one in New Rochelle, New York.
NEW YORK, USA - MARCH 14: New York opens first drive-through testing center for coronavirus the Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, United States on March 14, 2020. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Workers must wear protective equipment to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus while administering tests, though some are reporting supply shortages.
Workers in protective suits get ready while waiting for people to be tested for Coronavirus (COVID-19) as they arrive by car at the State's First Drive Through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York March 13, 2020. - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on March 13, 2020 opened the states first drive-through COVID-19 mobile testing center in New Rochelle. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Hundreds of people have lined up to find out whether they have the virus, like those in Denver, where the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is offering free testing.
DENVER, CO - MARCH 14: Hundreds of vehicles lined up at the Denver Coliseum for the free, drive-up testing site for coronavirus from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment with the support from the Colorado National Guard, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
A referral from a doctor is required to get tested at many locations, including at Medstar St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown, Maryland.
LEONARDTOWN, MARYLAND - MARCH 17: Signs directing patients to a COVID-19 virus testing drive-up location are shown outside Medstar St. Mary's Hospital on March 17, 2020 in Leonardtown, Maryland. The facility is one of the first in the Washington, DC area to offer coronavirus testing as more than 5,200 cases have been confirmed in the United States, and more than 90 deaths have been attributed to the virus. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Here, cars line up to await instructions from healthcare workers at a testing site in Denver.
DENVER, CO - MARCH 14: Colorado National Guard members assist the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment during a free, drive-up testing site for coronavirus in the parking lot of the Denver Coliseum March 14, 2020. (Photo by Andy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
In New York and Colorado, members of the National Guard have also been mobilized to help administer the tests, so healthcare workers must train them first.
A Department of Health employee trains New York Army National Guard soldiers to register people on iPads at a drive through coronavirus disease (COVID-19) mobile testing center in Glenn Island Park, New Rochelle, U.S. March 14, 2020. Sgt. Amouris Coss/U.S. Army National Guard/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Patients are told to keep their windows up to minimize workers' exposure to the virus.
Arlington County and Virginia Hospital Center have opened a temporary drive-through coronavirus testing site.
They're then asked to hold driver's licenses and other documents up to the window so workers can collect their information from outside the vehicle.
Workers in protective suits check id's of patients as they arrive by car to be tested for Coronavirus (COVID-19) at the State's First Drive Through COVID-19 Mobile Testing Center at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York March 13, 2020. - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on March 13, 2020 opened the states first drive-through COVID-19 mobile testing center in New Rochelle. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Workers then collect a nasal swab, which can feel pretty uncomfortable, but is generally not painful.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 13: A nurse wearing protective clothing swabs for potential coronavirus at a drive-through testing center at the University of Washington Medical campus on March 13, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. UW Medical staff feeling potential symptoms of COVID-19 were asked to pass through the drive-through screening center for testing. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
While cases in the US have been more concentrated among older age groups, recent research suggests children can get sick as well, often without displaying clear symptoms.
Joy Malone holds her daughter's hand as she is tested by a worker in protective clothing during drive through coronavirus testing in New Rochelle, New York, U.S., March 13, 2020. Picture taken March 13, 2020. Joy Malone/Handout via REUTERS
Workers then place the swab in a sterile container.
Medical workers at Kaiser Permanente French Campus test a patient for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at a drive-thru testing facility in San Francisco, California on March 12, 2020. - Between 70 to 150 million people in the United States could eventually be infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a projection shared with Congress, a lawmaker said March 12, 2020. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
That container goes into a separate bag to ensure the virus doesn't spread to other surfaces.
ARLINGTON, VA - MARCH 18: A healthcare worker screens a patient for COVID-19 at a drive-through coronavirus testing site on March 18, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. Arlington County and Virginia Hospital Center have opened a temporary drive-through coronavirus testing site for Arlington residents and county employees with a letter from a licensed health-care provider. The results for patients tested are estimated to be available in 5-7 days. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Workers take extra care to disinfect before and after administering tests to limit the spread of the disease.
SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 17: Nurses clean their hands with disinfectant after a patient was screened for COVID-19 at an appointment-only, drive-up clinic set up by the University of Washington Medical Center Northwest Outpatient Medical Center on March 17, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The clinic was set up to provide additional screening capacity, support personal protective equipment conservation efforts and help reduce the number of patients entering healthcare facilities for testing during the coronavirus outbreak. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
The swabs are then sent to labs for testing. It can take several days before patients get their results.
LAKE SUCCESS, NY - MARCH 11: A lab technician begins semi-automated testing for COVID-19 at Northwell Health Labs on March 11, 2020 in Lake Success, New York. An emergency use authorization by the FDA allows Northwell to move from manual testing to semi-automated. (Photo by Andrew Theodorakis/Getty Images)
While the US still lags far behind other countries, the drive-through sites are helping it ramp up testing.
CDC coronavirus test
New drive-through locations are opening every day, like this one at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas.
Reference: Yahoo News
