CVS Health opens first parking lot COVID-19 test site

In what is designed to serve as a model going forward, CVS Health has opened up a COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot of its store in Shrewsbury, Mass., about 50 miles west of Boston.

The site is not open to the general public. Instead, testing will initially focus on first responders and health care workers. CVS emphasized that the site does not administer tests on a walk-up or drive-up basis. The company closed the store to increase safety and make operations easier.

“It’s important to understand that this is our first site, which means there will likely be issues that arise,” CVS said in a statement. “Those issues will be addressed immediately and inform the opening of other sites — in CVS Pharmacy parking lots and elsewhere. The goal is to serve as a model for testing.”

CVS committed last week at a White House meeting to open drive-up testing locations for COVID-19 in the battle to fight its spread.

According to a report by CNBC, CVS’ own nurse practitioners and pharmacists are doing the testing at the site, with all employees in protective gear. It expects to do 12 tests per hour, and will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A private lab, which is not owned by CVS, will do the testing and deliver a result in about 48 hours, the report said.