Wake County moving COVID-19 drive-thru site to beat high temperatures
With temperatures likely to remain high, Wake County has announced it is moving its drive-thru COVID-19 testing site indoors.
Starting Monday, the county will move its drive-thru testing to the Sunnybrook Building parking deck, 225 Holston Lane.
By moving the testing site indoors, county officials hope to provide some protection against high temperatures. Tests will also start and end an hour earlier, beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. in order to avoid some of the day’s hottest temperatures and potential afternoon thunderstorms.
Temperatures are likely to remain in the 90s next week, according to an extended forecast from the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office, with the heat index likely reaching triple digits early in the week. This past week, the NWS issued several heat advisories for Raleigh and other parts of central North Carolina.
“We recognize that our employees are performing these services in the elements, including extreme heat and rain. As testing continues through the summer and into colder weather, we want to do all that we can to protect them from both the risk of COVID-19 and the weather,” Dr. Jeff Williams, the deputy medical director of Wake County EMS, said in a written statement.
Wake County has most recently been conducting drive-thru testing at the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Drive.
Free tests will be available at the new parking deck site next Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Residents are urged to sign up for a half-hour time slot at Wake County’s COVID-19 web page. After signing up for a slot, people will receive an emailed registration form that they should either print out or have available in their email when they arrive at the testing site.
Among those eligible for a free Wake County test are people who have symptoms of COVID-19, those who have been in contact with someone diagnosed with the illness and those who have a job that is either high-risk or does not allow for social distancing.
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Wake County moving COVID-19 drive-thru site to beat high temperatures."