Johannesburg - With just over 57 000 tests conducted since South Africa had its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on March 5, a pharmacy has launched a drive-through testing facility.
DisChem said it was launching a testing facilities at parking areas of a number of centres throughout the country where its stores were located to help government efforts of testing more people.
Last week, the Department of Health rolled out 67 mobile screening and testing vans across the country. The vans have been posted at all nine provinces.
Lizeth Kruger, the head of clinics at DisChem, said they were rolling out the initiative which would cost R850 per test as labs were under strain.
“This has a knock-on effect with results taking longer which then adds to the timing of diagnoses. At times like these, whatever support the private sector can give to the government will be valuable – we are all fighting the same unseen enemy, so Dis-Chem will be playing a supportive role in working to alleviate some of the pressure by introducing a drive-through testing option.”
WHERE TO TEST
Currently Centurion Mall, Olympus, Fourways Mall and Blu Bird Centre (Athol) testing sites are open.
More testing sites will be shared on the pharmacy’s website - www.dischem.co.za - as the company aims to open more testing sites.
“In light of the increasing incidence of Covid-19 transmissions, it’s crucial that South Africa can accurately predict the trajectory of this pandemic. With a greater testing capacity comes a truer picture of the spread of the virus in the country and we’re proud to be able to support the health authorities during such a challenging time,” Kruger said.
DisChem said the testing sites would be open between 9am and 4pm only on weekdays, with testing being conducted from your car.
The company said protective personal equipment for nurses who would conduct the tests were available and the pharmacy said the results would be logged with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
DisChem said they were using the same tests as the ones on offer at various labs. Results would take between 24 and 48 hours, they said.