Arlington’s drive-through coronavirus testing site is back in business after a brief hiatus.
The testing site, across from Washington-Liberty High School, closed around the end of June but reopened on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics is now partnering with the county to conduct the testing, taking over from Virginia Hospital Center.
The change was necessary as the VHC needed to bring its staff back to the hospital.
“As Virginia continues to move forward with reopening, Virginia Hospital Center is resuming many medical and surgical services and welcoming members of the community back to the hospital to receive previously delayed care,” spokeswoman Maryanne Boster tells ARLnow. “This transition requires the full attention of our entire staff, so in order to provide the highest quality care to our patients we brought the VHC employees previously staffing the drive-through COVID-19 Sample Collection Site on Quincy Street back to the Hospital.”
“VHC shared this needed transition in conversations with Quest and Arlington County in May to provide ample time for the service to continue,” Boster added. “Virginia Hospital Center continues to work closely with Arlington County and partners like the Arlington Free Clinic to support the walk-up COVID-19 Sample Collection Site at Arlington Mill and additional projects to address the health of the Arlington community.”
The reopening of the drive-through testing center comes as Arlington sees a minor uptick in new COVID-19 cases. A week after Virginia entered Phase 3 of its reopening, the trailing seven-day rate of new cases in Arlington is now 74. It reached a low of 42 on June 29.
There were eight new coronavirus cases, one new death and no new hospitalizations reported overnight, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The number of cumulative COVID-19 cases in Arlington currently stands at 2,558.
After weeks of a declining epidemic, the rate of new cases in Virginia is starting to slowly rise, according to an analysis by RT.live. The states surrounding Virginia — Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee — all have rising epidemic curves, according to the website. The District of Columbia, on the other hand, continues to see a declining epidemic.
Taken as a whole, the D.C. region is seeing a notable uptick in new cases.
“D.C., Maryland, and Virginia reported the second-highest combined number of COVID-19 cases in almost a month on Tuesday,” DCist reported today.