Montgomery County released details today on how its new Coronavirus testing center will work on the campus of Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell.

This location replaces one at Temple University’s Ambler campus which closed last week. That location operated from March 20th to April 9th and tested 4,800 people.

The Blue Bell location will open on Thursday, April 16th at 10:00 a.m. and will offer drive-through service utilizing a self-swab COVID-19 test. A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services instructional video about self-swab testing is below.

The testing will be limited to 250 people per day. Due to the limited number of tests, those being tested will be reserved for those meeting one or more of five criteria:

• Persons of any age with symptoms of sudden illness (such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of smell/taste, OR gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea), with or without fever; OR
• First responder (law enforcement, fire, EMS, or dispatcher) AND concern for exposure to a patient with suspected COVID-19 OR symptoms of any sudden illness, with or without fever; OR
• Healthcare worker providing direct patient care AND concern for exposure to a patient with suspected COVID-19 OR symptoms of any sudden illness, with or without fever; OR
• Anyone with known or suspected direct contact to someone with COVID-19; OR
• Anyone who has been recommended by their doctor to get tested.

These criteria could be expanded or relaxed based on the future availability of tests.

The site will remain open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as long as testing supplies are available.

Registration for each day’s appointments will open at 8:00 a.m. on mornings the site is open and will remain open until all available spots are filled.

Registration is available here.

Photo: Montgomery County Community College