FAYETTEVILLE -- Health care workers and first-responders in Northwest Arkansas will soon have another option for getting tested for covid-19.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Wednesday a drive-through testing site for first-responders and health care workers with coronavirus symptoms will open, possibly as soon as next week, in Bentonville.
Covid-19 screening sites
Coronavirus screening is available at the following:
• UAMS digital screening: www.uamshealth.com/…
• Washington Regional hotline: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, (479) 463-2055
• Washington Regional Coronavirus Screening Center: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, 3318 N. North Hills Blvd. in Fayetteville
• Arkansas Children’s Hospital hotline for child health: 1-800-743-3616
• Mercy Coronavirus Evaluation Site: 2090 S. Promenade Blvd. in Rogers. Patients must call (479) 717-7585 ahead to be screened.
• Community Clinic Siloam Springs Medical: 500 S. Mount Olive St. No. 200 in Siloam Springs. 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Friday and 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday.
• Community Clinic Rogers Medical: 1233 W. Poplar St. in Rogers. 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday.
• Elmdale Elementary School Based Health Center: 420 N. West End, Suite B in Springdale. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Community Clinic Fayetteville Medical: 162 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Suite 13-14 in Fayetteville. 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Community Clinic Springdale Medical and Pediatrics: 614 E. Emma Ave Suite 300 in Springdale. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas Family Medicine South: 2523 E. Huntsville Road in Fayetteville. 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• MedExpress Urgent Care: 1160 S. 40th St. in Springdale. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. Patients must call (479) 750-2971 to make an appointment.
Source: NWA Democrat Gazette
The project is a partnership among the state, Walmart and Quest Diagnostics, a commercial lab, Hutchinson said during his daily news briefing in Little Rock.
"This will put a focal point on them to make sure they have immediate access to testing if they need it," Hutchinson said.
Symptoms of covid-19 include cough, fever and shortness of breath, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hutchinson said a coronavirus screening tool will be available through an app for first-responders and health care workers to determine whether they need to be tested at the Bentonville site.
Walmart has two similar sites in Chicago and will use the third site to test a new layout and operational needs, according to a statement from the company.
"In the coming weeks, we anticipate supporting additional drive-thru testing sites in areas where state and local officials have identified a need and requested support," the statement reads.
Walmart didn't respond to questions about where the site will be and how many people it will be able to test.
Several coronavirus screening sites have popped up in Northwest Arkansas the past few weeks. The sites aren't testing on-site for the virus. They're collecting specimens from people who meet Centers for Disease Conrol guidelines to be tested. They then send the specimens to be tested, generally to the Arkansas Department of Health and to commercial labs. Specimens are collected via mouth and nasal swabs. Patients must meet certain criteria, such as having symptoms, to be tested for the virus because of the nationwide lacks of tests.
"We would love to be able to test a lot more people just to know who might be positive or not so we know who should quarantine," said Dr. Stephen Goss, president at Mercy Clinic Northwest Arkansas.
Patients who are very sick need to be tested first so they can be treated, Goss said. People who are concerned they may have the virus but don't meet testing criteria should self-quarantine and stay in contact with their doctors, he said.
Mercy Health System has received an estimated 2,300 calls from people who have to be screened before they're allowed to go to Mercy's evaluation site in Rogers. Staff collects specimen to be tested from everyone who comes to the evaluation site. Mercy had 485 visits to its site by the end of the day Wednesday, according to Jennifer Cook, spokeswoman for Mercy.
About 7,980 people in Arkansas had been tested for the virus as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. Of those, 584 people tested positive, including 39 in Benton County and 22 in Washington County.
The Arkansas Department of Health, commercial labs and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences did 903 tests Tuesday, Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said during Wednesday's news conference.
"We are making progress, obviously still not where we hope to be," he said.
The Arkansas Department of Health is doing 125 to 150 tests per day, according to Meg Mirivel, spokeswoman for the department.
As of Wednesday morning, UAMS screened about 10,400 people through its hotline, online screening tool and drive-through screening, according to Leslie Taylor, spokeswoman for UAMS. UAMS did 413 tests and sent another 1,326 specimens to the Health Department and to commercial labs to be tested.
Washington Regional Medical System received about 8,100 calls to its coronavirus screening hotline and 1,220 visits to its coronavirus and respiratory clinics in Fayetteville by the end of the day Tuesday, according to Natalie Hardin, spokeswoman for Washington Regional.
Community Clinic has seen more than 830 people at its five coronavirus screening sites in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Siloam Springs and collected specimens to be tested from about 200 people, according to Abbie Luzius, community development manager for Community Clinic.
NW News on 04/02/2020