In addition to our normal news coverage, What Now Atlanta is tracking ways Atlanta’s businesses are adapting to the novel coronavirus and the challenges it brings to brick-and-mortars.
CVS Health on Friday, May 22, will open 23 new COVID-19 test sites at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations across Georgia.
The opening of additional test sites across the state and country will be announced by the end of the month.
These new sites will utilize self-swab tests and mark the next phase of the company’s nationwide COVID-19 testing strategy, announced April 27.
CVS Health expects to have up to 1,000 locations across the country offering this service by the end of May, with the goal of processing up to 1.5 million tests per month, subject to availability of supplies and lab capacity.
The 23 test sites in Georgia are part of nearly 350 locations across 14 states including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
“While the large-scale test sites we’ve been operating since early April have proven successful, this new approach allows us to utilize our presence in communities across the country and bring testing closer to home,” Larry J. Merlo, President and CEO, CVS Health, said in a press release Thursday.
“Our frontline employees will continue to play a critical role in the testing process, with members of their communities directly benefitting from their dedication and selflessness.”
Once fully operational, more than half of the company’s 1,000 test sites will serve communities with the greatest need for support, as measured by the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index.
The index tracks a variety of census variables including poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing that may weaken a community’s ability to prepare for and recover from hazardous events like natural disasters and disease outbreaks.
“Our friends in the private sector continue to play a critical role in our efforts to ramp up COVID-19 testing and ensure access for all Georgians,” Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said in the release.
“CVS Health has been a tremendous partner in this fight, and we are grateful for their continued commitment to Georgia as they expand testing in communities throughout our state.”
Self-swab tests will be available to individuals meeting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, in addition to age guidelines.
Patients must register in advance at CVS.com beginning Friday, May 22 to schedule an appointment.
Patients will be required to stay in their cars and directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window where they will be provided with a test kit and given instructions, and a CVS Pharmacy team member will observe the self swab process to ensure it is done properly.
Tests will be sent to an independent, third-party lab for processing and the results will be available in approximately three days.
Testing will not take place inside any retail locations, and CVS Pharmacy, HealthHUB and MinuteClinic will continue to serve customers and patients.
The new testing sites in Georgia include:
- CVS Pharmacy, 6031 Fairburn Road, Douglasville, GA 30134
- CVS Pharmacy, 3001 Richard B. Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, GA 31088
- CVS Pharmacy, 5095 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross, GA 30092
- CVS Pharmacy, 4345 South Cobb Drive, SE., Smyrna, GA 30080
- CVS Pharmacy, 2738 North Decatur Road, Decatur, GA 30003
- CVS Pharmacy, 11710 Alpharetta Highway, Roswell, GA 30076
- CVS Pharmacy, 5370 Laurel Springs Parkway, Suwanee, GA 30024
- CVS Pharmacy, 3785 Sixes Road, Canton, GA 30014
- CVS Pharmacy, 5710 Sugarloaf Parkway NW., Lawrenceville, GA 30043
- CVS Pharmacy, 3027 Jim Moore Road, Dacula, GA 30019
- CVS Pharmacy, 3595 Atlanta Highway, Athens, GA 30606
- CVS Pharmacy, 800 East West Connector SW., Austell, GA 30106
- CVS Pharmacy, 4895 Post Road, Cumming, GA 30040
- CVS Pharmacy, 2994 Atlanta Road, Smyrna, GA 30080
- CVS Pharmacy, 480 Glynn Street, Fayetteville, GA 30214
- CVS Pharmacy, 5401 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31406
- CVS Pharmacy, 1950 Buford Highway, Buford, GA 30518
- CVS Pharmacy, 100 East Piedmont Road, Marietta, GA 30066
- CVS Pharmacy, 5690 Ogeechee Road, Savannah, GA 31405
- CVS Pharmacy, 2324 US Highway 17, Richmond Hill, GA 31324
- CVS Pharmacy, 6120 Hickory Flat Highway, Canton, GA 30115
- CVS Pharmacy, 4192 Salem Road, Covington, GA 30019
- CVS Pharmacy, 1544 Bass Road, Macon, GA 31210
A complete list of CVS Pharmacy drive-thru test sites can be found here.
[Editor’s note: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly evolving as is its effect on Atlanta, and the City’s businesses and its residents. Click here for What Now Atlanta’s ongoing coverage of the crisis. For guidance and updates on the pandemic, please visit the C.D.C. website.]
13 Responses
I don’t understand why Kemp won’t allow mayors to make the best decisions for their cities.
Is it a power play?
You really think Mayor Bottoms can make correct or the best decisions? Nothing in her track record especially recently suggests that. She thinks Wayne Williams was framed. That is how dumb she is.
Hmmm.
Given that time in history, she might not be wrong.
There’s no politician or political party that I can agree with 100% of the time.
Regarding C-19, I think she knows the situation in the COA, better than Kemp.
Kemp didn’t even know that C-19 could spread by asymptomatic people until months after the rest of the world knew. I think KLB goes by the medical consensus, and Kemp goes by politics.
Hopefully it isn’t the same medical consensus that told us COVID-19 is only spread by businesses being open and leisure activities and can’t be spread by protesters or protesting. I pretty much quit following the whole ordeal when those unbelievably stupid comments were made. Haven’t worn a mask since.
I’m not surprised by your opinion.
You do you…
Based off your dumb comments and obvious agenda, you’ll be fine because I’m sure people have social distanced from you for years
Hahaha, well played!
The idea that COVID-19 only spreads in churches, restaurants, bars, beaches, and independent stores and not riots, protests, WalMart or Target is insane. We have actual “scientist” and medical people who have suggested such. It defies all logic and science.
Mark, I think most of us can agree that all of those places you mentioned are places (large groups of people) that make one more vulnerable to
contracting C-19.
That’s why it’s important to follow the guidelines (masks, social distancing, etc) while in those situations. The problem is that many people feel it’s their right not to follow the guidelines– and it tends to be politically motivated.
As far as protests, and civil unrest, well that just happens when it happens. It doesn’t just happen on sunny days when everyone is healthy. I’m sure the protests have spread C-19– but those people chose to protest at the time because they felt it was an important enough issue that it couldn’t wait.
We went to Target (an essential business) today and 99% of the shoppers had masks on. Churches, bars, and beaches are not essential. If you’ve got to go to a house of worship to praise your lord, I kinda think you’re missing the point of spirituality.
I don’t go to church. The mental wrangling being used to not blame super spreaders at protests and riots is what I find ridiculous. Saying it is “important” doesn’t make it any less irresponsible than the guy who goes to Target without a mask on. You sound like a sane rational smart person I know deep down you know what I am saying is true and our medical experts who dance around this and wouldn’t even allow people doing contact tracing to ask if a COVID infected individual has been at a protest shows how laughable this whole issue is. The protesters and rioters made an absolute charade and caricature of COVID-19 and everything we had been told not to do but anyone who mentions this is shot down and told it’s the people going to an independent place of business who are really responsible for the spread. That’s a damn joke.
Since you have all the answers, explain why the Northeast hasn’t seen increases in cases since the protests began? They also had the largest protests in the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
Doesn’t it though? Two people catch covid. One got it while doing something important, one while doing something un-important. I’d say one of those people is clearly acting less responsibly.
This is manufactured outrage. We’re not even doing contact tracing (how would you with hundreds of thousands of cases??). I looked up the story and it was based on healthcare workers asking whether patients had participated in any high risk activities lately instead of specifically asking whether they had participated in protests. Seems like a non-issue that got whipped up by right wing media in an (apparently successful) attempt to induce rage.
Why have we not reverted to Phase I?