Drive-through sites are located at Indiabulls Finance Centre – Lower Parel, Celestia Spaces – Sewri and Lodha Supremus – Kanjurmarg
In an effort to protect healthcare workers and promote social distancing, SRL Diagnostics has commenced COVID-19 drive-thru specimen collection site at three locations in Mumbai. The drive-through sites are located at Indiabulls Finance Centre – Lower Parel, Celestia Spaces – Sewri and Lodha Supremus – Kanjurmarg.
Talking about offering the Ravi Aggarwal, Regional COO – South, West, Central India and International business, SRL Diagnostics said, “Site like these are needed greatly as active COVID-19 cases in Mumbai are increasing exponentially and drive-thrus concept work as a great tool to fast-track sample collection for COVID-19. Not only is the method faster, but it also limits human interaction with potentially infected people, further preventing the spread of the virus.”
The drive-thru facility will collect the test sample without having people step out of their cars. The procedure is simple, the patient remains in the passenger seat – next to the driver or in the left rear seat, the nasal / throat swab sample is taken through the car window – the entire process (drive-in entry to exit) takes about five to ten minutes. This swab is then sent to a laboratory for testing and the patient can receive the report the same day if the sample is given before noon.
“Drive-thrus concept for COVID-19 sample collection, which originated in South Korea, is becoming popular all over the world now. The idea behind drive-thru testing is simple: keeping potentially sick patients in their cars and allowing plenty of ventilation throughout the testing facility,” Aggarwal added.
SRL Diagnostics has set up a toll-free number (1800 222000) for making the drive-thru test appointment. The documents required for the testing entails a duly filled form by a qualified physician, doctor’s prescription seeking COVID-19 test and Aadhaar Card. On calling the toll free number, the patient will be asked to share their email address on which all the required forms will be shared, alternately the patient can also download these forms for SRL website. In case the patient doesn’t have an email address, WhatsApp is used to send and receive all the documents. The drive-thru testing facility is made available from 9 AM to 6 PM on all days.
Dr Prabal Deb, Director – Lab Operations & Chief Histopathologist, Clinical Reference Lab -Mumbai, SRL Diagnostics said, “There’s a huge shortage of personal protective equipments (PPE) like masks, gloves, hazmat suits etc. and we need to find innovative ways to conduct tests efficiently. By collecting samples through these drive-thrus, we are not compromising on the testing protocols and simultaneously doing everything we can to protect the well-being of our brave and selfless frontline soldiers by minimising human-to-human interaction.”
SRL Diagnostics has also launched its first drive through sample collection site in Gurugram Sector 29 recently.
Does this test also include the COVID-19 RT-PCR test?