BANGOR, Maine — Bangor Healthcare Organizations and City of Bangor is opening a community drive-up testing site at Bass Park to screen for COVID-19 on Friday.
In a virtual press conference with Northern Light Health’s Dr. James Jarvis on Wednesday, Jarvis said the new site is for testing only.
Jarvis said they are asking for only individuals who have been screened by a provider or through a nurse triage system and have been given an order to go for testing before they arrive there.
Dr. Jarvis said, “It’s imperative that we only test individuals who have risk and have symptoms for this disease. We have a limited number of tests here in the community and across the state.”
The community drive-up testing center is being put on by Northern Light Health, St Joseph Hospital, Penobscot Valley Health Center, and the City of Bangor. Jarvis said they also have similar testing centers at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Inland Hospital in Waterville, Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield are open now and the A.R Gould Hospital in Presque Isle should be open soon.
Jarvis said the drive-up testing center will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and those hours could be expanded depending on demand. He said there could be lines so people should be prepared to wait a bit for the test.
At NEWS CENTER Maine, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus
Editor’s note: You are starting to hear the term ‘flattening the curve’ as a way to stem the tide of coronavirus cases. The above video explains what that means.
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