Inova offers curbside COVID-19 testing

Drive-up coronavirus testing in Arlington hosted by the Virginia Hospital Center. [Tyrone Turner/WAMU]

Starting today, March 25, three Inova Urgent Care clinics – in North Arlington, Tysons, and Dulles South – will offer curbside coronavirus testing.

People with a testing order from a physician can drive up to one of those sites where a clinician will greet the patient at their vehicle to collect samples for COVID-19 testing or escort them into the respiratory clinic for evaluation.

Anyone who thinks they have coronavirus symptoms should contact their regular healthcare provider first to determine if testing is warranted. If it’s an emergency, they should contact a local urgent care center or emergency room. Inova advises people not to show up at a site for COVID-19 screening without calling ahead.

People who don’t have a regular doctor and are experiencing a fever or symptoms of respiratory infection, such as cough or difficulty breathing, or had exposure to a COVID-19 patient or traveled to a high-risk area classified by the CDC should call Inova at 855-IMG-DOCS. After clinic hours, call one of Inova’s nine urgent care centers before visiting.

Patients who are tested can expect results in four to seven days. After testing for COVID-19, an urgent care nurse will contact those whose results are negative. For patients with positive results, a nurse will coordinate with the patient’s regular physician for notification and further instructions.

Virginia Hospital Center, in partnership with the Arlington County Public Health Department and other agencies, opened a temporary drive-through COVID-19 sample collection site last week. The site, at 1429 N. Quincy St., is for symptomatic Arlington residents with a written order from a physician.