Patients who use a UNC Health coronavirus testing center can expect daily follow-up calls or texts regardless of their test results, Dr. Amir Barzin, incident commander for the respiratory diagnostic center in Chapel Hill, said Thursday.

A distinguishing feature of the respiratory diagnostic center are the gowned and gloved medical staff doing nasal swabs of people waiting in cars — a photo of a UNC nurse in scrubs, mask and sunglasses went viral last week. But there’s more work on the back end beyond just telling patients their results.

Nurses make daily calls to patients who test positive, Barzin said in an interview with reporters Thursday. The interview, arranged by the hospital, was conducted via videoconference.

Most of the people who test positive have mild cases of COVID-19, he said.

“Nurses are are making sure patients feel comforted and have their questions answered on the spot,” he said. “If they’re showing signs of not doing well, we can route them to hospitals.”

Patients who test negative receive text messages daily. Nurses call those who report feeling ill, Barzin said.

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Text chats for people with negative results end after seven days for those who continue to feel well. People can also ask to be removed.

The daily calls to people who test positive continue for 14 days. Those patients also have the option of discontinuing the chats.

UNC started setting up respiratory diagnostic centers about three weeks ago and now has 10 across its healthcare system. The center in Chapel Hill is the most active and sees 70 to 100 people a day. It has assessed about 1,800 people so far, Barzin said in an email.

UNC Medical Center and the medical school developed a diagnostic test that allows for same-day or next-day results.

The diagnostic center gets patients by referral from healthcare providers. Patients are also referred by the UNC Health virtual care center, where doctors, nurses and schedulers talk to patients remotely.

The 35-member diagnostic center team is taking care to stay safe, Barzin said. They wear masks, and have hand sanitizers “all over the facility,” he said. At morning staff meetings, “we stand in a circle the size of a parking lot,” he said.

Staff members who are in contact with patients wear the proper protective equipment, he said, and monitors are there to make sure the equipment is being used correctly.

To protect his family, Barzin said he’s been living in a separate section of his house.

“I have a 14-month-old daughter at home,” he said. “I didn’t want to risk bringing anything in.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Tested for coronavirus at UNC? They’ll keep in touch.."