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CVS To Open 1,000 ‘Self-Swab’ Coronavirus Test Locations

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CVS Health is escalating its cross-country effort to expand testing for the Coronavirus strain COVID-19 with plans to open 1,000 locations by the end of the month.

The scale of the openings comes several weeks after CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Rite Aid, Walmart and other retailers pledged in White House meetings to use their thousands of locations, including parking lots to expand U.S. testing for COVID-19. In CVS Health’s case, the new sites will use “self-swab tests” as part of a newer phase of testing by the giant drugstore chain.

CVS is hoping to dramatically ramp up testing by processing up to 1.5 million tests every month. Currently, CVS processes about 30,000 tests for COVID-19 a week in five states as part of a rollout that began several weeks ago with a focus on front-line healthcare workers and first responders.

"While the large-scale test sites we’ve been operating since early April have proven successful, this new approach allows us to utilize our presence in communities across the country and bring testing closer to home," CVS president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo said. “Our frontline employees will continue to play a critical role in the testing process, with members of their communities directly benefitting from their dedication and selflessness.”

Thursday’s announcement is welcome news for the Trump administration, which announced the participation of the retailers more than two months ago, saying it would meet the public’s testing needs but has been dogged by criticism.

The exact test locations will be announced in the next two weeks, CVS said. Patients can register beginning Friday, May 15 at CVS’ web site to get tested.

“Patients will be required to stay in their cars and directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window where they will be provided with a test kit and given instructions, and a CVS Pharmacy team member will observe the self-swab process to ensure it is done properly,” CVS said in its statement. “Tests will be sent to an independent, third-party lab for processing and the results will be available in approximately three days.”

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