Wales on March 6 opened its first drive-through testing facility to detect the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the BBC reported. (Screen capture from BBC homepage)
By Jung Joo-ri and Lee Jihae
More countries are adopting Korea's model of drive-through screening clinic to test for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and prevent its further spread.
CBS News on March 10 said the first such clinic in the U.S. opened at the northwest Seattle branch of University of Washington Medical Center.
"In (Korea), officials have been able to test hundreds of people every day for coronavirus using fast food-style drive-thrus. Now, the technique is coming to Washington, which has the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S.," it said.
"The drive-thru method has proven to be more a more efficient testing method, in addition to limiting human interaction with potentially infected people, further preventing the spread of the virus."
The BBC announced the first such facility in Wales on March 6. It had earlier reported on Feb. 27 how to use the clinic in London, calling the method "safe and convenient" and saying it was "being rolled out across the country at NHS (National Health Service) sites."
In Australia, the nation's first drive-through screening clinic was opened on March 10 in Adelaide. "It presents no risk at all for anyone working on the site and will support isolation of those patients until the results of their tests are known," ABC said.
etoilejr@korea.kr
