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One day after opening, Mid City testing center now out of coronavirus kits

4 years 1 week 5 days ago Monday, March 16 2020 Mar 16, 2020 March 16, 2020 10:57 AM March 16, 2020 in Coronavirus
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - The drive-thru testing center at the former Mid City ER is currently out of coronavirus testing kits after opening on Monday.

The mayor's office announced Tuesday afternoon that nearly 400 people had been tested by doctor referral in the first two days of the center opening. An enormous line of vehicles lined the street leading up to the center.

Shortly before 2 o'clock, city officials said the center had temporarily run out of testing kits and would not be seeing anyone else Tuesday.

The testing site has closed and will re-open when more kits are secured, the city said.

The mayor said a group of medical professionals is advising city-parish government on how to strengthen the existing screening protocol requirements, a city-parish spokesperson said in a news release.

"The COVID-19 group requests that healthcare professionals act judiciously with their clinical judgement so that tests can be administered to our most vulnerable population when the tests become available," the mayor's office said Tuesday afternoon.

A day earlier, city officials announced the one-time Emergency Room would be temporarily transformed into a drive-thru testing center, and tests would only be conducted with a doctor's referral. 

The testing center is not designed for random testing. 

Click HERE for the latest patient numbers in Louisiana related to COVID-19, also known as coronavirus.

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