COVID-19 testing sites are becoming more available for people in Columbus

COVID-19 testing is back in full swing in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- As COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise, health care officials are doing whatever it takes to keep workers and patients safe. The Baptist Memorial Group started a drive-through testing site for people who may feel they’re having symptoms. The surge in the Delta Variant of COVID-19 is causing a comeback of sorts. After months focused on vaccinations, many medical centers now find themselves returning to mass testing. The Baptist Memorial Group said they saw this rise and wanted to take some of the load off of their colleagues.

“We were trying to decompress our emergency room. We were seeing record numbers of patients coming in and long wait times so to serve the public better and faster we decided to open up a COVID-19 testing facility,” said the regional director of the Baptist Medical Group (BMG) Wesley Wallace.

The drive-through site is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM, but people have to preregister by calling (662)-244-2019.

“We’ve seen some pretty good numbers we’re averaging around 30 to 100 people a day coming through the drive-through testing facility,” said Wallace.

Once a patient preregisters they’ll come to the drive-through site, get swabbed, and be on their way as they await their results. Two nurses are out each day to test the patients, but if traffic gets heavy, they’ll add more to keep things moving. The group had been testing people before moving outside but felt this was a better way to help everyone.

“This was already in place we were just doing it inside the clinics and inside the ER and to reduce those wait times we just moved it outside so the patients wouldn’t have to get out of their car,” said Wallace.

Wallace encourages anyone who thinks they may have symptoms to come to get tested rather than potentially further spreading the virus.