Brownsville and UTRGV School of Medicine officials held a Facebook live question-and-answer session to discuss a university COVID-19 drive-thru testing site.
The UTRGV School of Medicine’s drive-thru testing site, which is located near the Vaquero Plaza on University Boulevard, is the second site in Brownsville. The first site opened March 25 and is located at the Brownsville Sports Park.
Felipe Romero, Communications and Marketing director for the City of Brownsville, said the city has been innovative in doing more drive-thru testing.
Arturo Rodriguez, Brownsville Public Health director, said the objective of the drive-thru sites is to identify communitywide COVID-19 cases, especially for people who may not have access to health care.
As of Tuesday, the Sports Park site in Brownsville had tested 338 individuals and three cases were confirmed positive.
Rodriguez said testing is important to identify people who could potentially be spreading the virus and not be aware of it.
Dr. Michael Dobbs, a UTRGV School of Medicine professor and chair of the Neurology Department, said he echoes Rodriguez’s statement.
“Testing is vitally important to really be able to understand and reduce the impact of this pandemic at the local and regional level,” Dobbs said. “Without testing, we’re kind of working in the dark.”
Requirements to be tested at the UTRGV drive-thru include meeting criteria supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and endorsed by the state health department, and having the appropriate clinical history and symptoms, according to Dobbs.
He said the drive-thru testing process will also be available in Spanish and, as of now, has no cost.
When a positive result is received at the UTRGV lab, it is automatically sent to a commercial lab for confirmation.
The process for the city drive-thru tests starts with filling a questionnaire. Individuals who qualify for testing are given a time to show up at the Sports Park and get tested. If there is no line, the testing process can take as little as 10 minutes, but if there is, it can take a few more, according to Rose Gowen, commissioner at-large “B” for the City of Brownsville.
Results have been received in three days.
Rodriguez said that whether results come back negative or positive, it is still recommended to isolate at home.
The process for the UTRGV drive-thru tests also starts with a questionnaire. Individuals then receive an appointment and the tests are brief. Presumptive results come back within a day, according to Dobbs.
He said they inform Cameron County of any presumptive positive cases.
Rodriguez said they notify the individuals of the results, whether positive or negative.
“However, we encourage them, as I stated earlier, to remain at home because this test is a snapshot in time,” he said. “It’s not to mean that you’re protected or that between the time you took the test, if you didn’t go straight home or you had a visitor, that you didn’t get yourself infected after you took the test.”
For more information about testing at the UTRGV site, Dobbs said to visit uthealthrgv.org or call 1-833-UTRGVMD.
