Only a 30 minute wait for a COVID-19 test: Brookhaven partners with testing site

Long lines have plagued COVID-19 testing sites over the past few weeks across metro Atlanta, but one of those sites has managed to cut down weight time to just under an hour despite the continued high volume.

CEO of CovidCareGa said it took a lot of people working together to help decrease the wait time, including a strong partnership with the city of Brookhaven.

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Rain or shine, there's a line at the Northeast Plaza on Buford Highway in Brookhaven.

"We see about 1,500 patients a day just at this location," said Dr. Sofia Kahn, CEO of CovidCareGa.

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Some people may have been around others who are sick and want to get tested.

"I just wanted to get tested to have peace of mind," said Alex who is from California but has been visiting Georgia for the past few weeks.

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But others are truly sick.

"They have fevers, they have chills, they have a cough," said Dr. Kahn.

CEO of CovidCareGa, Dr.Sofia Kahn said there's already fear and anxiety, she didn't want to keep people waiting for hours in line to get a COVID-19 test.  She said thanks to a partnership with the city of Brookhaven, they were able to cut the wait time from more than 2 hours to around 30 minutes.

"We've had police officers helping direct traffic, the city helped us secure this place. We had parks and recreation come out at 2:30 in the morning to put close to 300 cones out," said Dr. Kahn.  

They also needed more workers, and the mayor put the word out that anyone who wanted to make $16 an hour and help in the fight against COVID-19 should apply for a job.

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"In order to make an operation like this go through we need people who can do registration, traffic, not just people in the medical field," said Dr. Kahn.

Dr. Kahn is also Chief of Emergency Medicine at Emory. She said the ERs are already overwhelmed and only those with severe symptoms should go to the hospital. She said those with minor symptoms who need tests, should go to the free testing sites throughout the metro area. 

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