State opens mass COVID-19 testing site in Delaware City

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DELAWARE CITY — The Delaware City Division of Motor Vehicles is doubling as a mass COVID-19 testing site for the next three weeks.

The site, which opened Monday through a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency and the Delaware Division of Public Health, aims to address the record demand for COVID-19 tests in Delaware.

Delaware has averaged more than 60,000 tests per week recently, DEMA director A.J. Schall said, compared to around 23,000 in November.

“We know the demand is here and we’re hoping this relieves some of it,” Mr. Schall said. “Hopefully doing this for the next few weeks takes some of that pressure off. We know a lot of people travel up and down Route 1. This is right off Route 1 and it’s evening hours so you can hop on and off coming home from work or on the weekends.”

Appointments are required and slots are available from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays. The site will utilize a PCR shallow nasal swab and results are expected to be returned in 48 to 72 hours.

Individuals must register on FEMA contractor eTrueNorth’s COVID-19 testing website. Each individual tested must create an account. After completing the initial screening questionnaire, users will schedule an appointment. A confirmation voucher will be provided and should be brought to the testing site.

Gov. John Carney, who visited the site Monday along with other state officials, said appointments are required based on the state’s experience with holding mass COVID-19 vaccination sites at DMVs early in the vaccine rollout when lines were multiple hours long. Switching to an appointment-only setup made the process run smoother, he said.

“We had a really big problem for people coming who did not have appointments,” Gov. Carney said. “So we’re going to emphasize the need for appointments right away, coming with your voucher and having signed up online, so we don’t have a chaotic situation and a bad experience for everyone involved.”

Those who register for testing will use their username and password to access their results when they are available. Those who have questions or need assistance with registering for an appointment can email COVID19@eTrueNorth.com or call 1-800-635-8611.

Gov. Carney said the hope is results can be sent in 48 hours or less. The state’s turnaround time, which was typically less than 24 hours, has fallen off due to the large amount of tests being sent to the labs.

“We want to try to target getting results turned around in 24 hours but that slips when you get up to 60,000 a week,” Gov. Carney said. “It’s a function of the capacity of the labs that we rely on to do the tests.”

There are currently no plans for similar sites in Kent County or Sussex County, Mr. Schall said. The state’s Curative sites Downstate have been testing around 500-600 people a day compared to 1,200-1,500 a day in New Castle County.

But the site’s proximity to Del. 1 and location just above the canal is expected to attract downstaters, Mr. Schall said.

“We put it down here toward the southern part of New Castle County to see what impact it has on mid-state and Lower Delaware,” Mr. Schall said. “The demand for testing is high down there, but not as high as it is up here. So we’ll keep an eye on that.”

For those unable to access the site due to transportation or other barriers, the state encourages them to take advantage of the hundreds of testing sites statewide and at-home test options, which can be found  here or here.

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