New coronavirus testing site in South Jersey won’t turn any residents away, county official says

A drive-thru, walk-up coronavirus testing site opened in Camden on Wednesday and any county resident who showed up would “receive some level of service,” officials said.

The testing site — one of the first in South Jersey, scheduled to run through April 15 — is located at Cooper’s Poynt Waterfront Park, 801 Delaware Avenue and will be open Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m.

Officials said they could administer up to 60 tests daily.

Previously officials said the site would only serve county residents with an appointment who have symptoms and a referral from a medical provider. But hours before testing started, some of the rules were relaxed.

“We’re asking that if you have a prescription, you can come up. But listen, don’t mistake it. If you come up, we’re not turning anybody away,” said Camden County Freeholder Jonathan Young.

Nearly an hour after it opened, only a handful of people had turned out. Five cars with people seeking tests lined up outside one of two drive-thru tents. They were quickly processed and most of the nearly 50 medical workers in the drive-thru tents and two smaller adjacent walk-up tents, stood idle.

People with an appointment were allowed to go to the drive-thru lanes. Without an appointment, you had to walk through.

Wilfredo Echvarria, 65, a retiree from Camden drove up to the site but was told he would have to go to the walk-up tent. Less than 15 minutes later he walked back to his car parked across Delaware avenue from the testing site with a flier in hand. He pulled down a mask he was wearing and stopped to talk.

“Everyday I called for information,” Echvarria said. “Today, yesterday my throat was hurting.”

He said he had not gone to a doctor because, “that’s money.”

The site is located in one of the poorest cities in America. But hospital and public officials said they would evaluate anyone who came up for symptoms and provide a test if needed, with or without insurance.

John Zachornacki, 62, of Cherry Hill, emerged from the testing site shortly after Echvarria. He said he had heard about the site on a morning news show and quickly called his doctor.

“I did not have an appointment but I had a prescription,” said Zachornacki who runs his own car service. “I had non-stop coughing and a fever for the last two days. I called my doctor this morning and they referred me to this place.”

Last week the county delayed plans for a drive-up testing site at Camden County College it began assembling earlier this month because it could not secure test kits. The county has at least 242 coronavirus cases with six deaths. It is the most populous county in South Jersey with 507,000 residents.

New Jersey health officials reported Wednesday the state has at least 22,255 cases of the coronavirus including 355 deaths as 3,649 new positive tests were confirmed.

The figures include 91 additional deaths, the highest single-day increase in the outbreak. The increases in cases was also the highest single-day jump. New Jersey has more cases than all but 8 countries in the world.

Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday that more than 18,000 people in New Jersey have tested positive for coronavirus, though it still remains unclear how many are exhibiting mild symptoms or those who’ve recovered.

While some counties and towns have said how many people who tested positive were later cleared or are out of quarantine, state officials have not.

Bergen County has nearly 3,000 coronavirus cases while seven other counties have eclipsed the 1,000 mark.

The Camden City site will be jointly operated by Cooper University Health Care and Virtua Health, medical systems that operate multiple hospitals in the county.

The new testing facility is located on the site of a former state prison on the Delaware River waterfront in the shadow of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia. The prison was torn down in 2010 and redeveloped into a public park.

Camden County officials said some street closures may occur to mitigate traffic backups in local neighborhoods near the site. But the recommended route to reach here is on from Cooper Street to Delaware Avenue.

Staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.

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